TEHRAN, January 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The decades-old row between Iran
and the United States, two major players in the great Afghan game,
has taken on new dimensions as both cried foul over each other's
sincerity and role in helping Afghanistan.
Iran, "a long-time friend and brother" of Afghanistan, has
stepped up its efforts in rebuilding its war-devastated neighbor
with emphasis on its western provinces, a move that drew attention
and raised suspicion from the U.S. of Iran's trying to sway
influence in the country.
U.S. President George W. Bush has issued a warning to Iran
following reports from the U.S. press that Iran, which borders
Afghanistan, was sheltering members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist
network and sending arms and cash to local warlords to limit
Afghanistan's pro-Western tilt.
"Iran must be a contributor in the war against terror," Bush
said, adding "any nation that thwarts our ability to rout terror
out where it exists will be held to account, one way or the other."
In a soft ultimatum, Bush warned that Tehran would face dire
consequences if it sought to destabilize Afghanistan's interim
government, and it must hand over any suspected Al-Qaeda members
seeking refuge in Iran.
Iran swiftly refuted the reports as "undocumented" and took a
sharp swipe at the Bush Administration, saying that the U.S.-led
coalition in Afghanistan was in fact destabilizing the country.
A stern rebuke came from Chairman of the State Expediency
Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said on Monday that "the U.S.
and Britain, who essentially created the Taliban and then raided
Afghanistan to remove them, are now creating problems for regional
countries under different pretexts," the IRNA news agency reported.
The government-run Iran News said in Tuesday's editorial that
Iran "does not covet anything in Afghanistan."
The English-language daily said Iran is fully aware of the fact
that Iran's safety and security cannot be guaranteed without
Afghanistan's stability and thus Iran "has no intention or reason
to interfere in Afghan affairs or sabotage Afghan peace process."
Iran has sheltered some 2.8 million Afghan refugees during the
past 20 years, and the rampant drug trafficking during
Afghanistan's Taliban era has created a generation of addicts in
Iran.
While rejecting the U.S. accusation, moderate President Mohammad
Khatami reiterated on Monday Iran's policy of non-interference in
Afghanistan's internal affairs during a telephone conversation with
Hamid Karzai, head of the interim Afghan government.
At a meeting with Sadako Ogata, visiting Japanese Prime
Minister's special envoy for Afghanistan, Khatami noted that
Afghanistan's peace and stability will serve Iran's interests,
noting "this is the reason that Tehran is keen on Afghan
reconstruction."
Meanwhile, Iran's Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani has also made
clear of Iran's stance on regional developments, which has been "in
line with establishing durable peace, stability and security."
Quoting Afghan defense minister Mohammad Fahim, Tehran Times
newspaper said in Tuesday's opinion column that "any instability in
Afghanistan adversely affects the Islamic republic," and
undermining the fledgling interim Afghan government would be "a
senseless policy for the Iranians to adopt."
The U.S. broke ties with Iran after Islamic fundamentalist
students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans
hostages in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Tehran and Washington, however, witnessed a short-lived
honeymoon following last year's September 11 terror attack on the
U.S., with interests converging in the process of wiping out the
radical Taliban regime.
Iran allowed the U.S. to use its air space for food relief to
Afghanistan, and agreed to rescue U.S. pilots downed in its
territory. Such moves had won U.S. appreciation and even held out
hopes of a thaw in the strained Iran-U.S. ties.
But the two war-time bedfellows are at odds again as the U.S. is
preparing to build up military in the region and has turned
increasingly sensitive toward Iran's developing relations with
Afghanistan amid its intensified help to the war-torn neighbor.
As Iran sees no signs of U.S. military leaving Afghanistan, a
country it shares over 950-kilometer-long borders, it has raised
voice of objection to the presence of foreign troops and started to
question the ulterior U.S. motives.
The hard-line Tehran Times opined on Tuesday that the U.S. is
portraying Iran as potential threat to the regional peace and
stability while its stay "in a region where it does not belong" is
motivated by oil and a strategy to "contain" the Islamic republic.
Regardless of what kind of words the U.S. was casting on it,
Iran has vowed to help the ruined neighbor by delivering "spiritual
as well as material assistance."
Iran's Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said on Monday
that the reconstruction of the war-devastated Afghanistan in
absence of Iran is "meaningless."
Lari told visiting Ogata that Iran sheltered large numbers of
refugees during Afghanistan's war time, so "it's natural for Iran
to care a great deal about their fate."
Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Education and
Research Affairs Sadeq Kharazi has told Afghan Foreign Minister
Abdullah Abdullah that Iran is intending to implement "extensive
plans" for rebuilding Afghanistan.
In a further attempt to expand economic cooperation, Iran and
Afghanistan have established Joint Economic Cooperation and
Friendship Association based in Iran's northeastern city of
Mashhad, the IRNA has reported. Enditem
