Bulletin de liaison etd'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
an ultimatum: "If they in any way,
shape or form try to destabilize the
government," he said, "the coalition
will deal with them, in diplomatic
ways initially:' The line played well
withmost Americans, who are still inclined
to believe the worst about Iran.
Washington lists Iran as the top state
sponsor of œrrorism and regularly
wams ÜIltMmm is developing nuclearwupöns.
The U.S. Iastyearcited
an Iranian military officer for helping
engineer the 1996 bombing of the
Khobar Towers barracks in Saudi
Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen.
Iran's hard-line establishment continues
to support the destruction of Israel
and has aided and abetted the
radical Palestinian groups Hamas an~
Islamic Jihad as well as Lebanon's
Hizballah militia. The State Department
said on Jan. 10 that ~the weight
of the evidence" suggests Iran was involved
in the thwarted shipment of
50 tons of arms to the Palestinian Authority,
despite Iran's denial. As TIME
reported, Israel says the shipment
was orchestrated
by operatives close
creased his clout by reactivating the powerful
Supreme National Security Council
and working to change the country's image
as a regional menace. The President has
normalized relations with Iran's Arab'
neighbors" cozied up to Russia and im- ,
proved .ties with Germany, France and
Britain. Iran and Iraq have shown'signs of
a .possible rapprochement, but with the
Bush Administration making noise about
taking the war on terrorism to Baghdad, a
senior Iranian official told TIME, Iran
might cooperate in a militàry campaign to
remove its old enemy Saddam Hussein.
"Obviously, this can't be our, public
stance," the official says. "But our history ,
to Imad Mughniyah, a notorious
Hizballah terrorist who has long enjoyed
support from Iran.
Does that make Iran a first-order
threat? The ongoing struggle between
pro-Western reformists, led by
democratically elected President Mohammed
Khatami, and religious conservatives
loyal 'to Iran's Supreme
Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, cer- ~'1~",'. '.
taioly makes Iran a volatile power. The ,*~;;.:. " , " "", /J"
~hetoric of the c~untry'~ religi~us leaders , -' '" A'-> "~ ~:)~;~" /: ;,,:r, '.
IS peppered WIth anti-Amencan d_.(,~_~".L"i;" \.-
bile, and powerfulelements with- }~__ ,\~~~tt~$~£~7i:$'4r~~~
't:JP" - ,",' t- ,-~,. ~ r
in Iran's conservative security ,.-or ,'. :",.-,.~ ,:~4'b" :'.:' ';;"r
establishment have inthe past S~O:~~_.