Iran Reiterates Support for UN-led Anti-Terrorism Campaign

Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi on Friday reiterated his country's support for United Nations-led campaign against international terrorism, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Kharazi made the remarks in a phone conversation with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan over an international anti-terrorism campaign and the latest developments in Afghanistan following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.

Kharazi highlighted the pivotal role of the U.N. in the anti- terrorism campaign, saying that "the U.N. should become the axis of the fight to ensure that the necessary unanimity for the campaign can be achieved."

He also urged the U.N. to attend to the fate of the Afghan people and to provide the necessary assistance for them.

For his part, Annan expressed satisfaction with Iran for taking up an "active diplomacy" through conducting intense lobbies with the European Union following the terror attacks in the U.S., saying that it was important for the world countries, especially European ones, to be kept abreast of Iran's stance on the recent world developments.

"The U.N. has put the issue of dealing with terrorism on its agenda" and the campaign would go ahead smoothly provided that the world countries stick to the central role of the U.N. in the fight, Annan stressed.

The U.N. chief added that he was striving to find "appropriate mechanisms" to help Afghan refugees who have flooded the country's borders with neighboring countries since a U.S.-led attack on the alleged terrorist bases in the country has loomed large.

Earlier in the day, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani also told worshipers at the weekly Friday congregational prayers at the Tehran University that Iran is ready to take part in a U.N.-led anti-terrorism campaign provided that the U.S. does not impose its ideas.

"If the U.S. decides not to impose its own will, we are ready to join the anti-terrorism coalition under the umbrella of the U.N. despite our differences with the U.S.," Rafsanjani stated.

The statements by Kharazi and Rafsanjani came only two days after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei resoundingly rejected joining the anti-terrorism coalition being built up by the U.S..

"America does not have the competence to guide a global movement against terrorism, and Iran will not participate in any move which is headed by the U.S.," Khamenei said.

Iran, which has not had diplomatic relations with the U.S. for the past 21 years, has condemned the anti-U.S. attacks, while warning against possible U.S. reprisals targeting Afghanistan, who is accused of harboring Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the terror attacks.






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