BBC: Iran hits back at Bush [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Stasi]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Friday, 11 January, 2002, 16:31 GMT  WATCH/LISTEN  ON THIS STORY The BBC's Emil Petrie http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1750000/video/_1754036_iran01_petrie_vi.ram "The Iranian government has denied it's a haven for Bin Laden's men" President George W Bush http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1750000/video/_1753846_iran17_bush_vi.ram "[Iran] needs to be an active part of the coalition"     Iran hits back at Bush Iran opposes the West's military role in Afghanistan http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1755000/1755562.stm By Jim Muir BBC Tehran correspondent Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has angrily denounced a statement by US President George W Bush that Iran must co-operate in the US-led war against terrorism. Speaking at Friday prayers in Tehran, Mr Rafsanjani described Mr Bush's statement as "rude and impudent", and said it would be "counter-productive". How does [Bush] dare speak to our nation in such a rude and impudent manner?... Such threats do not have the intended results Hashemi Rafsanjani As much as anything else in Mr Bush's remarks, Mr Rafsanjani objected to Iran being told it must do this and it must do that. Threats and blackmail, Mr Rafsanjani said, might work with people who were afraid of the Americans. But Iran had a long history of revolutionary resistance to American pressure, and adopting such a tone would have the opposite effect of that intended. Influential figure Mr Rafsanjani, twice president and currently head of an important constitutional body, the Expediency Council, is a pillar of the Iranian establishment. He was clearly voicing the view of the regime as a whole. Hashemi Rafsanjani: A long-standing critic of US policy Earlier, the Iranian Foreign Ministry had denounced US suggestions that Iran might have permitted fugitives from the al-Qaeda movement to cross the border from Afghanistan and seek refuge in Iran. The ministry also took issue with the presence of Western military forces in Afghanistan, saying that their interference was a destabilising factor hampering the establishment of peace in the country. Iran is clearly concerned about the intervention of foreign forces on its doorstep. It was critical of the Western-led campaign from the outset. Radical groups Iran is also aware that its own support for radical Middle East groups that Washington regards as terrorists could make it a target for eventual attention once the Afghan affair is concluded. Both in Tehran and Washington, counsels are divided. There are elements on both sides that would like to use the current crisis to improve relations between the two countries, and others who would resist any such effort. It is a very fluid situation, and hard to predict which way it might go. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================

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