Iranian Leaders Slam US Strikes Against AfghanistanIranian leaders on Tuesday denounced the US-led military attacks against Afghanistan, calling for an "immediate end" to the strikes, which have inflicted casualties of defenseless people.Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was quoted by Radio Payam as saying that "one should not use the combat against terrorism as an excuse to victimize innocent and defenseless people." Iran's Majlis (parliament) Speaker Mehdi Karrubi said in the day that the U.S. retaliatory attacks "should not be considered as an anti-terrorist campaign." Showing concern over the innocent Afghan people, Karrubi expressed hope that the Afghan crisis would be settled as soon as possible, stressing that the fate of Afghanistan should be determined by the Afghan people. Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani slammed the U.S.-led raids on Afghanistan as "a shame in political and international arena," reported the state radio. In retaliation for the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the U.S. and British forces on Sunday launched air strikes and cruise missiles at targets in Afghanistan. More than 20 people have been killed in Kabul following the U.S. -led military strikes against Taliban targets on Sunday, the Afghan Islamic Press agency reported on Monday. Afghan's ruling Taliban have been accused of harboring Saudi- born Osama bin Laden, the "prime suspect" of the terror attacks in the United States. |
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