Scotsman.com News - Top Stories - Iran = starts to see benefit of deal with the devil



Scottish news direct from = Scotland		Saturday, 22nd November=20 2003

<= /TR>

Sections

Hot = Topics

Other = Sites

Print = Editions

Services

Mon 30 Sep=20 2002

printer = friendly

email=20 article

Iran starts to see benefit of = deal with=20 the devil

BORZOU=20 DARAGAHI IN SALAHUDDIN, NORTHERN IRAQ =

IN PUBLIC, = the Islamic=20 Republic of Iran has scowled at the United = States=E2=80=99 apparent=20 plans to overthrow the Iraqi president, Saddam = Hussein.=20

However, a delegation of Iraqi Kurds who = travelled to=20 Iran over the past couple of weeks found that even = Iran=E2=80=99s most=20 traditionally anti-US institutions have accepted and = acceded=20 to the possibility of a regime change in Baghdad.=20

Indeed, they appeared to relish the prospect = of an end=20 to President Saddam, who initiated a devastating = eight-year=20 war with Iran in 1980.

"The Iranians have some = concerns about the post-Saddam Iraq, what kind of Iraq = there=20 would be, and the legality of removing a sovereign = regime,"=20 said Hosyar Zebari, a top-level Kurdish official. =

His=20 delegation held meetings last week with the powerful = former=20 president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, as well as the head of = Iran=E2=80=99s=20 ultra-conservative Revolutionary Guards and the = ministers of=20 defence and intelligence. "But deep down they really = they want=20 a change a of regime in Iraq. They want to see the = back of=20 Saddam Hussein," Mr Zebari said.

US troop = deployments=20 and President George Bush=E2=80=99s vows to replace = President Saddam=E2=80=99s=20 government have placed the region on edge. =

Governments=20 and political groups in the region have been in a = flurry of=20 diplomatic haggling and military planning. Here in = northern=20 Iraq - a semiautonomous US and United Nations = protected area -=20 fears of war and instability loom especially large.=20

The mountain-top town of Salahuddin, just = north of the=20 major city of Erbil, is where Massoud = Barzani=E2=80=99s Kurdistan=20 Democratic Party, one of the two major groups = governing Iraqi=20 Kurdistan, has been busy preparing for a 4 October=20 parliamentary meeting and wrestling with the = implications of a=20 post-Saddam Iraq.

The Kurds were once fierce=20 guerrillas. But they have lately laid down their arms, = put on=20 suits and ties and engaged in politics to ease their=20 neighbours=E2=80=99 fears about a new Iraqi = government. Relations=20 between Turkey, and the two Kurdish political camps = governing=20 northern Iraq nearly collapsed after two members of = the Ankara=20 government publicly suggested annexing this part of = Iraq. Mr=20 Zebari says he is heading to Turkey next. = "We=E2=80=99re trying cool=20 to the atmosphere and tone done the media threats." =

Mr=20 Bush=E2=80=99s 12 September speech at the United = Nations, in which he=20 referred four times to the Iranians as victims of = President=20 Saddam, did much to ease Iranian fears that US plans = to attack=20 Iran following an elimination of the Baghdad regime, = Mr Zebari=20 said. Iran leaders welcomed Mr Bush=E2=80=99s remarks = as a=20 conciliatory gesture, he added.

Iran=E2=80=99s = approval or at=20 least acquiescence in an overthrow of the Iraqi regime = is=20 vital. The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is due in = Iran to=20 discuss the Iraqi question in the second week in = October. In a=20 telephone conversation with the UN secretary general, = Kofi=20 Annan, last week, Iran=E2=80=99s president, Mohammad = Khatami, said any=20 action against the Iraq must be carried out under the = UN flag.=20

Iran and the United States cut ties following = the 1979=20 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran. But the clerical = regime=20 of Iran is also no friend of the Baghdad government, = which=20 used chemical weapons against its soldiers at the end = of a=20 long war in the 1980s. Iran quietly sat out the 1991 = US-led=20 campaign to push Iraq out of Kuwait.

But its = border=20 and ethnic ties with Afghans have complicated the US = drive to=20 create a post-Taleban peace in Afghanistan. In the = same way=20 Iran can throw spanners in any plan to create a new = Iraq.=20 Iran=E2=80=99s 1,200-mile frontier with Iraq is the = longest of any=20 country bordering Iraq. In contrast to other countries = surrounding Iraq, Iran has poor relations with Baghdad = but=20 strong ties to President Saddam=E2=80=99s domestic = enemies.=20

Some 90 per cent of Iranians follow the Shiite = Muslim=20 sect, giving them strong ties to Iraq=E2=80=99s = Shiites, who make up=20 60 per cent of Iraqis.

Iran also has strong = ties to=20 the Kurdish Iraqi groups. Iran has provided shelter = for the=20 Iraqi Kurds numerous times throughout the 20th = century, most=20 recently following President Saddam=E2=80=99s brutal = suppression of a=20 1991 uprising.

Eight million Kurds live = throughout=20 Iran, where their distinctive dance, music and dress = are=20 officially recognised as one of the nation=E2=80=99s = traditional=20 cultures.

The 3.5 million Kurds and majority = Shiites=20 of Iraq will likely make up important components of = the Iraqi=20 federation sketched by opposition groups in Washington = last=20 summer. Mr Zebari said the Kurdish delegation, headed = by the=20 nominal Kurdish co-prime minister, Nejivan Barzani, = wanted to=20 make sure Iran was on board.

The delegation = spoke=20 extensively with Mr Rafsanjani, the former president = of Iran=20 who heads the powerful Expediency Council and wields = enormous=20 influence in the republic=E2=80=99s complicated = government.=20

"This wasn=E2=80=99t a diplomatic exercise," = Mr Zebari said.=20 "This was hard politics. We talked to the doers. Not = to the=20 lawyers and diplomats."

Mr Zebari said the = Iranians=20 seemed especially curious about what the Americans = were saying=20 about Iran during the meeting in Washington. "We very = frankly=20 and openly related to them the aims of the United = States. The=20 aim is to make the Iraqi people free, not to occupy = Iraq. They=20 would like the neighbouring countries to assist." =

Mr=20 Zebari said the Iranians have been quietly and subtly = helping=20 Washington=E2=80=99s war efforts. During the Tehran = meetings, Iran=20 agreed to streamline trade routes to northern Iraq, = whose=20 people fear it will be cut off from energy and trade = in the=20 event of a long war. Over the past few weeks, = Iran=E2=80=99s=20 Revolutionary Guards have increased their presence on = the=20 Iraqi border and set up refugee camps.

A = leader of an=20 Iraqi Muslim extremist group was arrested at = Tehran=E2=80=99s Mehrabad=20 airport and sent to Holland. "These are all added = pressures on=20 Saddam."

Related=20 Articles:
War with Iraq=20

	US media reluctant to follow up = evidence=20 (21-Nov-03)
	Offensive launched against Iraqi = insurgents=20 (19-Nov-03)
	Embattled allies cannot afford to = abandon=20 Iraq (19-Nov-03)
	Saddam deputy behind deadly = attacks=20 (18-Nov-03)
	Iraqi helicopter claim = (18-Nov-03)
More