Roundup: Iran-US Ties Turn Sour Again Over Roles in Afghanistan Rehabilitation

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Roundup: Iran-US Ties Turn Sour Again Over Roles in Afghanistan Rehabilitation

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The decades-old row between Iran and the United States, two major players in the great Afghan game, has taken on new dimensions as both cried foul over each other's sincerity and role in helping Afghanistan.

Iran, "a long-time friend and brother" of Afghanistan, has stepped up its efforts in rebuilding its war-devastated neighbor with emphasis on its western provinces, a move that drew attention and raised suspicion from the U.S. of Iran's trying to sway influence in the country.

U.S. President George W. Bush has issued a warning to Iran following reports from the U.S. press that Iran, which borders Afghanistan, was sheltering members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network and sending arms and cash to local warlords to limit Afghanistan's pro-Western tilt.

"Iran must be a contributor in the war against terror," Bush said, adding "any nation that thwarts our ability to rout terror out where it exists will be held to account, one way or the other."

In a soft ultimatum, Bush warned that Tehran would face dire consequences if it sought to destabilize Afghanistan's interim government, and it must hand over any suspected Al-Qaeda members seeking refuge in Iran.

Iran swiftly refuted the reports as "undocumented" and took a sharp swipe at the Bush Administration, saying that the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan was in fact destabilizing the country.

A stern rebuke came from Chairman of the State Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said on Monday that "the U.S. and Britain, who essentially created the Taliban and then raided Afghanistan to remove them, are now creating problems for regional countries under different pretexts," the IRNA news agency reported.

The government-run Iran News said in Tuesday's editorial that Iran "does not covet anything in Afghanistan."

The English-language daily said Iran is fully aware of the fact that Iran's safety and security cannot be guaranteed without Afghanistan's stability and thus Iran "has no intention or reason to interfere in Afghan affairs or sabotage Afghan peace process."

Iran has sheltered some 2.8 million Afghan refugees during the past 20 years, and the rampant drug trafficking during Afghanistan's Taliban era has created a generation of addicts in Iran.

While rejecting the U.S. accusation, moderate President Mohammad Khatami reiterated on Monday Iran's policy of non-interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs during a telephone conversation with Hamid Karzai, head of the interim Afghan government.

At a meeting with Sadako Ogata, visiting Japanese Prime Minister's special envoy for Afghanistan, Khatami noted that Afghanistan's peace and stability will serve Iran's interests, noting "this is the reason that Tehran is keen on Afghan reconstruction."

Meanwhile, Iran's Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani has also made clear of Iran's stance on regional developments, which has been "in line with establishing durable peace, stability and security."

Quoting Afghan defense minister Mohammad Fahim, Tehran Times newspaper said in Tuesday's opinion column that "any instability in Afghanistan adversely affects the Islamic republic," and undermining the fledgling interim Afghan government would be "a senseless policy for the Iranians to adopt."

The U.S. broke ties with Iran after Islamic fundamentalist students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostages in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Tehran and Washington, however, witnessed a short-lived honeymoon following last year's September 11 terror attack on the U.S., with interests converging in the process of wiping out the radical Taliban regime.

Iran allowed the U.S. to use its air space for food relief to Afghanistan, and agreed to rescue U.S. pilots downed in its territory. Such moves had won U.S. appreciation and even held out hopes of a thaw in the strained Iran-U.S. ties.

But the two war-time bedfellows are at odds again as the U.S. is preparing to build up military in the region and has turned increasingly sensitive toward Iran's developing relations with Afghanistan amid its intensified help to the war-torn neighbor.

As Iran sees no signs of U.S. military leaving Afghanistan, a country it shares over 950-kilometer-long borders, it has raised voice of objection to the presence of foreign troops and started to question the ulterior U.S. motives.

The hard-line Tehran Times opined on Tuesday that the U.S. is portraying Iran as potential threat to the regional peace and stability while its stay "in a region where it does not belong" is motivated by oil and a strategy to "contain" the Islamic republic.

Regardless of what kind of words the U.S. was casting on it, Iran has vowed to help the ruined neighbor by delivering "spiritual as well as material assistance."

Iran's Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said on Monday that the reconstruction of the war-devastated Afghanistan in absence of Iran is "meaningless."

Lari told visiting Ogata that Iran sheltered large numbers of refugees during Afghanistan's war time, so "it's natural for Iran to care a great deal about their fate."

Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Education and Research Affairs Sadeq Kharazi has told Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah that Iran is intending to implement "extensive plans" for rebuilding Afghanistan.

In a further attempt to expand economic cooperation, Iran and Afghanistan have established Joint Economic Cooperation and Friendship Association based in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad, the IRNA has reported.

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