|
| 1
|
| 0 Comments / Subscribe To Comments |
| Published: Jan.12.2007 @ 6:59 am
|
|
Friday, 12 January 2007 |
Baghdad/Tehran - US forces accompanied by military helicopters on
Thursday stormed the Iranian consulate in the Kurdish city of Arbil,
arresting five Iranian employees, a Kurdish security source said.
In
addition to the arrests, US troops confiscated documents and computers,
while Kurdish security authorities cordoned off all roads leading to
the building.
In Tehran, the Iranian leadership responded by
summoning diplomats representing US interests in order to protest.
Local Kurdish officials in northern Iraq refused to comment on the
incident.
Arbil is located 350 kilometres north of Baghdad in
Iraqi Kurdistan province, the only region gaining an official
recognition as a federal entity.
The raid came a day after US
President George W Bush said the United States would confront Iran and
Syria, accusing them of fomenting violence in Iraq by allowing
insurgents into the country and supporting attacks on American troops.
The
political and religious representatives of Iraq's Sunni Muslim
population accuse the Iranian leadership of supporting Shiite militias
and even sending its own fighters to take part in dead squads.
In
Tehran, Iran summoned the ambassadors of Iraq and Switzerland (which
represents US interests in Iran) over the consulate raid, Iran's state
television network IRIB reported.
The Iranian foreign ministry
demanded explanations from the two ambassadors on the raid and stressed
that the consulate was established in the capital of Iraq's autonomous
Kurdish region at the explicit wishes of the Iraqi government and Iraqi
Kurdish officials.
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister
Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini condemned the raid and termed it as
contrary to diplomatic norms.
He also confirmed the arrest of
the five consulate staff members, but could give no information on
their whereabouts or whether they have been transferred outside Arbil.
The
IRIB Arabic network Al-Alam reported that the Iranian consulate
employees had already been transferred to Baghdad although Massoud
Barezani, the chief of the Kurdistan deferral entity, had tried to
prevent the transfer.
Hosseini told ISNA news agency that all
accusations by the US alleging Iranian interference in Iraq's internal
affairs were just excuses for covering up the US failure in the US.
'Even the Iraqi officials have several times confirmed that Iran had no interference in Iraq,' the spokesman said. |
|
|
| 1 Comments / Subscribe To Comments |
| Published: Jan.12.2007 @ 6:56 am
|
|
Bush's tough tactics are a 'declaration of war' on Iran |
|
|
|
|
Friday, 12 January 2007 |
American forces stormed Iranian government offices in northern Iraq,
hours after President George Bush issued a warning to Tehran that was
described as a "declaration of war".
The
soldiers detained six people, including diplomats, according to the
Iranians, and seized documents and computers in the pre-dawn raid which
was condemned by Iran. A leading UK-based Iran specialist, Ali Ansari,
said the incident was an "extreme provocation". Dr Ansari said that Mr
Bush's speech on future Iraq strategy amounted to "a declaration of
war" on Iran.
"The risk is a wider war. Because of the underlying tensions, we are transferring from a 'cold war' into a 'hot war'," he said.
In
his speech, the President accused Iran and Syria of providing material
support for attacks on US troops, and vowed to stop the "flow of
support" from across the border. "We will seek out and destroy the
networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in
Iraq," he said.
Dr Ansari argued that the Bush administration
had decided to confront Iran at a time when public opinion has been
focused on the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. "There's
been a shift of emphasis without anyone noticing," he said.
"Moderate"
Sunni Arab states who feel threatened by the rise of Shia Iran, thanks
to its influence in Iraq and its refusal to curb its nuclear programme,
could be expected to back the Bush approach, he said. The US Secretary
of State, Condoleezza Rice, is due to visit Egypt, Jordan and Saudi
Arabia this week.
Until now, the Bush administration had been
content to deal with the perceived Iranian threat diplomatically. The
United Nations adopted sanctions against Tehran on 23 December.
However, the economic measures adopted by the UN have failed to
convince Iran to halt its uranium-enrichment programme which could lead
to production of a nuclear weapon. The US is calling on allied states
to adopt tougher unilateral sanctions.
President Bush appointed
Admiral William Fallon to replace General John Abizaid as head of
Central Command for Iraq and Afghanistan last week in a sign that
change could be afoot. This week, Mr Bush ordered a second aircraft
carrier to the Gulf, along with its support ships, which could be used
to contain Iran.
The US Treasury named Iran's Bank Sepah as a
proliferator of weapons of mass destruction on Tuesday, banned US
companies or citizens from doing business with it and blocked any of
its assets that come under American jurisdiction.
But if the US
is preparing to confront Iran militarily - which some top military
officials in Israel are reportedly recommending - the Bush
administration will find itself involved in conflicts on four fronts.
In
Somalia, US special forces have been pounding suspected al-Qa'ida
suspects since early on Monday, in a continuing operation that risks
pulling the Americans back into a conflict in a failed state. US forces
are also active in southern Afghanistan in the hunt for the al-Qa'ida
leader, Osama bin Laden, and his top associates. Al-Qa'ida has
reactivated its Taliban allies who have become bolder in their attacks
on coalition forces.
In Iraq, US troops are losing soldiers on
an almost daily basis to the bombs of Sunni and Shia insurgents. The
Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was warned by Ms
Rice yesterday that his days were numbered unless he was able to take
on Shia militias who are his allies in government.
Ms Rice
followed up President Bush's tough words on Iran by saying: "The
President made very clear last night that we know Iran is engaged in
activities endangering our troops... and that we're going to pursue
those who may be involved in those activities."
Iran's Foreign
Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, protested against the raid
by US forces in Arbil, saying on Iranian state-run radio that it
targeted a "diplomatic mission" since the "presence of Iranian staffers
in Irbil was legal".
Ironically, Iran had been contained by
Saddam Hussein, until his overthrow by the Americans in 2003. Obsessed
by a threat from "Persian hordes", Saddam maintained ambiguity about
his weapons of mass destruction so Iran would believe that it had
reason to fear its western neighbour. So have the Americans made a
strategic mistake by refusing to engage with Iran? "There's no doubt
that nothing good will come of this," said Dr Ansari. |
|
|
| 0 Comments / Subscribe To Comments |
| Published: Jan.09.2007 @ 9:47 am
|
Supreme Leader Calls for Muslim Unity
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called on the world Muslim population to
avoid differences and discord in a bid to enhance solidarity.
|
 |
Addressing thousands of people who had come from the city of Qom to
felicitate the Supreme Leader on the auspicious occasion of Eid
al-Ghadir here on Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the leaders,
elites and politicians of the Islamic states should enhance their
efforts to reinforce solidarity among the Muslim nations and avoid
getting involved in sectarian conflicts.
He said that Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) introduced Imam Ali (AS) as a
unique personality and as his successor and that in this way, the
prophet drew a road map for the future of the Muslim society.
The leader, meantime, underlined that Muslims should not let
enemies sow seeds of discord among Muslim Shiites and Sunnites through
misusing Eid al-Ghadir, and continued, "Rather, it indicates the fact
that leaders of the Islamic nations should honor leadership as a
principle for the administration of the affairs of the entire Muslim
nations."
He further warned that enemies of Islam are striving to turn the
issue of Ghadir into a pretext for religious conflicts among Muslim
Shiites and Sunnites and called on the leaders of the Islamic states to
help to the neutralization of the conspiracies hatched by the US and UK
aimed at escalating sectarian sentiments between Shiite and Sunni
Muslims.
Elsewhere, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the failed policies of
the US in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine, and reminding that
the US politicians themselves have admitted these defeats, he said,
"Following its failure in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine, the
US has resorted to stirring up sectarian violence in the Islamic states
to reach its ominous goals."
Also reminding the United States' intense propaganda against Iran
since the onset of the Islamic Revolution, he reminded Muslim leaders
that Iran's growing power serves the interests of the entire nations in
the Persian Gulf region and in the world of Islam.
The leader advised the Arab leaders not to give concessions to the
United States, and reminded, "The US administration is not trustworthy
because it is obedient to Israel and supports Israeli crimes against
Muslims in Palestine."
He also warned the Arab leaders against forming alliance with the
US and UK in the face of Iran, saying that the said two states are
fervent followers of Israeli's policies in the campaign against
Muslims.
Referring to the nuclear issue, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution stressed that Iran will not withdraw from its stances, and
underlined, "The Iranian nation will not give up even an iota of its
nuclear rights and the (Islamic Republic) officials do not reserve the
right to ignore such a magnificent achievement."
"As a homegrown technology, our nuclear science is a source of
pride not only for the Iranian nation but for the entire world of
Islam," he stated.
|
|
|
|