Iranian leader blasts U.S. role

KABUL, Afghanistan -- On a landmark visit to the Afghan capital, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami sharply criticized the United States for its "warlike" policies even as the Islamic leader offered his support for the U.S.-backed government of Hamid Karzai.

Speaking alongside the Afghan president and flanked by Iranian security agents as well as Karzai's new bodyguards from U.S. Special Forces, Khatami accused the United States of abusing its global power since the Sept. 11 attacks and creating a climate of violence in the world.

Khatami, whose nation President Bush labeled a member of the "axis of evil," did not directly refer to Bush administration talk about war with Iraq or to the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are still hunting the remnants of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida fighters.

But he warned that U.S. "aggression" could backfire and generate more global violence.

"In today's world, the fate of all nations is intertwined. If one country invades another country, it doesn't mean that the invaded country is the only one that suffers. The invaders also will have difficulties," he said, during the first visit in 40 years by an Iranian president to neighboring Afghanistan.

"Aggression brings aggression, and to believe that you can make people submit by force is wrong. We know it actually brings anger and destruction," he added.

The Afghan president, for his part, offered to mediate between Washington and Tehran.

"Both America and Iran are good friends of Afghanistan, both helped us fight terrorism and we are thankful to both of them," said Karzai, who started using American troops as bodyguards after one of his vice presidents was assassinated last month. "We will try to do something to patch up the differences between the two countries."

Despite Khatami's criticisms, the Iranian leader also indicated he would welcome a better relationship with Washington. Describing U.S. policies toward Iran as "wrong," he added: "We hope to see a change in America's policy for the sake of America and the world."

He said Iran also opposed terrorism and confirmed that Iran had recently handed over 16 al-Qaida suspects to Saudi Arabia. He hinted that Iran had also handed over other al-Qaida fugitives to their nations of origin, though he gave no details.

"Even if we had just a little suspicion, we delivered them to their countries, and not just Saudi Arabia," Khatami said. The U.S. has in the past accused Iran of harboring members of al-Qaida who fled across the border from Afghanistan.

Khatami's 10-hour visit to Kabul came as a reminder that although it was the United States that toppled the Taliban and helped install the Karzai government in Kabul, Afghanistan remains a nation at the crossroads of regional and global rivalries.

Relations between Iran and the United States soured after Bush's "axis of evil" speech and again after he accused Tehran of interfering in Afghanistan's affairs and seeking to undermine Karzai's government.

Karzai, who visited Tehran earlier this year, hailed Iranians as "brothers" and praised Iran for its help in fighting terrorism and aiding the postwar recovery effort.

Khatami and his entourage of heavily armed Iranian security guards were greeted at the Kabul airport by Karzai and his entourage of heavily armed U.S. bodyguards. Also on hand at a presidential palace welcoming ceremony was Iranian-backed warlord Ismail Khan, whose powerful hold over the western province of Herat, bordering Iran, remains one of the Karzai administration's biggest headaches.

Karzai's government remains almost entirely dependent on U.S. support for its survival, yet Afghanistan also has close cultural, linguistic and economic ties with Iran. The most widely spoken language is Dari, a form of Persian, and most of the imports arriving in Afghanistan come through Iran.

Iran was a staunch supporter of the factions now in government that fought the Taliban throughout its five-year rule, and Khatami repeatedly reminded reporters that the United States only decided to oppose the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks brought terrorism to its doorstep.

The Iranian government has emerged as the most generous donor to the international effort to aid Afghanistan's recovery from two decades of civil war, pledging $560-million of the $4.5-billion promised from around the world. The United States has pledged $296-million.

While other nations' aid efforts have bogged down in bureaucracy, Iran has begun repairing the highway from Herat to the Iranian border, setting up 2,000 Iranian university scholarships and contributing to other aid projects.

Khatami said that Iran was interested only in seeing stability restored to Afghanistan and in supporting the central government of Karzai.

"We have no intention of interfering in this country," Khatami said. "No country should interfere in this country because the people of Afghanistan would never tolerate that."

Rumsfeld says al-Qaida fighters escaping to Iran

WASHINGTON -- Iran is allowing al-Qaida terrorists to cross its borders from neighboring Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday, suggesting that Tehran is at cross-purposes with the Bush administration's campaign to round up al-Qaida's leaders.

Rumsfeld brushed off reports that Iran captured and deported some al-Qaida members to their native countries.

Saudi Arabian officials say Iran handed over 16 suspected al-Qaida fighters that the Saudis had asked for. In Kabul, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Tuesday that his government has given suspects to other countries.

Asked about the reports at a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld said: "With respect to the terrorists that they say they have turned in, they've turned none in to us." He added: "They have permitted al-Qaida to enter their country. They are permitting al-Qaida to be present in their country today."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright