Bulletin de liaison etd'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm (jzeti
u.s. terror claim is blow
to Iran reformists
By}olm Want Andenoo
~ TIle ~ FCIIt
~ .. ISTANBUL: American claims ~t Iran is
t;:; . part of an "axis ol evil" supporting interna-
>b tional terrorism have damaged Iran's
t. fleclgliq democratic reform movement and
l::l ~ore. coml'lex battle reformers are waf
gmg against religious hard-liners, according
il to political analysts and Western diplomats.
~ The accusation, leveled by President
~ George W. Bush in his State of the Union adâ
dress on Jan. 29,put Western-leaning officials
:@. in Iran on the defensive and forced them to
E-ol join with conServative clerics in condemning
'Q the United States and defending their govern-
1! ment, political observers in Iran said.
~ In a remarkable reaction to Bush's com-
::z:: ments, tens of thousands of protesters inter-
1rupted a speech Monday by the Iranian pres-
Q ident, Mohammed Khatami, with chants of
~ "Death to Americal" That slogan usually is
I shouted during speeches by hard-line clerics,
t not during an address by Iran's leading re-
formist and chief advocate of strengthening
ties with the West.
Khatami and his allies control the elected,
administrativë wings o( the Iranian state, and
their moderate, conciliatory approach to politics
in recent years has largely ended the
country's decades of international isolation
and repaired its negative image abroad. But
they have been locked in a desperate battle
against conServative clerics, who under Iran's
Islamic theocracy possess most of the real
power and have blocked Khatami's efforts to
oS
enact political, social and religious reformS.
Coming on the heels of the president's
speech and at least partly because of it, analysts
said, Iran on Friday rejected Britain's proposed
neWamMcsador, plJlDgingrelations between
the two countries to their lowest point
since they restored official contacts in 1998.
The reJection came even though British officials
have distanced themselves from
Bush's "axis of evil" comment, indicating
that Iranian conservatives have the upper
hand over reformists, even in the international
arena, analysts said.
"This was immensely damaging. It really,
really hurt Khatami," said a Western diplomat
in Tehran who was interviewed by telephone.
"Iran had been engaging in constructive
diplomacy since Sept. 11 - as
constructive as anyone. Now, the conservatives
are all saying, 'See, we told you they'd
screw you in the end.'"
Tensions between reformists and conservatives
had reached new heights even before
Bush's speech. Some analysts have interpreted
his remarks as a sign that his administration
has written off Khatami and his reform
movement as a spent force.
"This really reversed the course of what
was happening between the conservatives
and reformists," who seemed to be moving toward
decisive showdowns on a host of issues,
said a political analyst in Tehran. "There were
all these exciting things going on, and George
Bush came in and basically wrecked it. Now
they are all standing shoulder to shoulder:."
Iranian officials aD8!ily denied Bush's accusations
and challenged the United States to
produce evidence backing the claims. Despite
the denials, many foreign analysts accept that
Iran is trying to develop nuclear W9pons and
has stockpiles of chemical weapons.
Critics ofU.s. claims that Iran is behind international
terrorism say distinctions should
be drawn between the government of Iran
and hard-liners who apparently act without
the approval or even knowledge of elected officials.
. .
Additionally, many Muslim countries and
some U.S. alhes say the key reason Iran is
blamed for supporting terrorism is that it
backs Palestinian FUps fighting Israel. Iran
and other counmes see this as legitimate
backing for a nationalliberation movement.
Analysts say any official involvement by
Iran in terrorism would likely be endorsed in
secret by institutions that ultimately fall under
the control of Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei,
Iran's top political and religious authority.
Unelected, conservative clerics under
Khamenei control the military and intelligence
services, the judiciary, state broadcasting
agencies and religiousoversight panels
that often veto reforms approved by the elected
government. The conservatives adamantly
oppose normalizing relations with the
United States and often have been accused of
supporting and exporting terrorism.
Bush seemed to point to the conservatives
in his speech, saying that "Iran aggressively
pursues these weapons and exports terror,
while an unelected few repress the Iranian
people's hopes for freedom."
Bush isn't Clinton • By Jim Hoagland
Talk of toppling Saddam is serious
~ WASHINGfON
~For more than a decade,
oô Americans have been told by.
.... officials of three administraê
tions that ending the deadly
~ . and unique threat that Iraq's Ba'athist
il regime poses to U.S. interests was not
~ urgent. This was never true. Iraq is
America's most important unfinished,
~ business abroad.
j Gèorge w. Bush's recognition of a
•- reality that so many worked so hard
~ for so long to obscure has rallied his
:sa own officials to a still evolving policy
e of regime change in Iraq. No longer
~ are we told by Colin Powell and others
== that Saddam Hussein is "in a box."
1 Now we are told that the Ira9i dictator
~ must be ousted through diplomatic,
~ political or military means.
= There may be less immediate
~ change ~n meets the eye. In the
.... weeks and months just ahead, both
Washington and BadIdad will engage
in set pieces of posturing and playing
for time during a period of phony war,
phony peace.
If you get confused by plans to
."smarten" economic saDftions. on
Iraq, implied promises to renew
weapons inspections there or Iraqi officials
ostentatiously paying court to
UN Secretary-General Kafi Annan,
then you will have been paying attention.
Much of this is dust ln the eyes.
But there are key points on which to
focus as premature war whoops from
hawks and equally uninformed warnings
of disaster £rom doves compete
for your attention.
The president's clear emphasis on
Iraq recently is a significant positive
change in itself. It puts Saddam on notice:
Helping Al Q.aeda or any other
terrorists to develop or acquire the
weapons of mass destruction that Iraq
has or covets willlead to immediate
and devastating reprisal. That is language
that the Iraqi just may understand,
for a while at least.
Bush is conducting a serious review.
The Russians, the French and others
may not like the results, but they
should respect the rigor and deliberativeness
of the process as it unfolds
rather than trash American impulsiveness.
Vice. President Dick Cheney's
trip next month to the Middle East is
designed to advance final deCisionmaking
in Wash~on by shoring up
frayed relations With the Saudis and
other regionalleaders - not to carry
to them hastily drafted options and
specific operational requests.
The three to six months needed to
train and equip Iraqi dissidents to play .
a significant role in toppling Saddam
can be put to good use for other purposes
as weIL Ahmed Chalabi, a senior
figure in the Iraqi National Congress,
is urging the Bush administration to
give his organization training in ciril
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