DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./IRAN: VERBAL ATTACKS & FINGER POINTING

US, Iran exchange accusations ahead of meeting

Dead Sea, Jordan - Accusations flew between officials from the United States and Iran on Sunday as US officials reiterated their claim that Tehran is destabilizing Iraq by funding the insurgency there and providing weapons for extremists.

The exchange took place during discussion at a meeting of the Jordan-based World Economic Forum (WEF) being held on the shores of the Dead Sea resort and come ahead of a planned US-Iran meeting in Baghdad on May 28.

'We have evidence that Iran is participating in destabilizing Iraq,' US Senator Orrin G Hatch said. However, his claims were vehemently denied by the leadership of Iran during a discussion at the forum gathering.

Hatch asked Iran for 'some indication of respect, some indication of willingness' to abide by the rule to law.

Mohammed Larijani, Iranian deputy minister of foreign affairs, said it is in Iran's national interest to have a unified, peaceful Iraq.

But he also noted that Iran had not been getting any signs of respect from the US ahead of the Baghdad meeting. '(Senator Hatch) talks about respect. We have been labelled as part of the axis of evil. And we are threatened every other day that (our) government should be changed,' he said.

'They say our meeting should be only at ambassadorial level. Are these good signs of respect? Definitely not,' Larijani said.

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2 US Republican senators allege they have 'evidence' Iran sent weapons, trained militants in Iraq

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan: Two U.S. Republican senators said Sunday the United States has evidence that Iran sent weapons and trainers to instruct militants in Iraq to carry out terror attacks there.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, told a World Economic Forum panel discussion on Iraq's future that during a trip last week to Iraq, he saw "evidence that Iran was supplying weapons and bomb-making components to Iraqi terrorists."

A former Iranian government official, who was on the same panel as Hatch, denied the claims, saying his country was falling prey to a "barrage of accusations" from the U.S. since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

"Iraq is already so full of arms that it doesn't need arms from Iran," said hard-liner Mohammed J.A. Larijani, a former deputy foreign minister and brother to Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.

But Sen. Gordon Smith, a Republican from Oregon, told the same panel he saw "confiscated Iranian weapons" and captured Iranians who confessed to a mission to train Iraqi extremists in military tactics.

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Larijani said the two senators' allegations were part of U.S. President George W. Bush's propaganda campaign against Iran that included labeling the country part of the "axis of evil."

"Is this a sign of respect?" he questioned, addressing the U.S. senators, who demanded Iranian cooperation with the U.S. to help stabilize Iraq.

Hatch said Washington "respects" the Iranian people, and the U.S. needed to do a better job in "dealing with our friends in Iran."

"But there are clear indications and there's no doubt that Iran is sending weapons to kill not only Americans in Iraq, but also Iraqis," said Hatch, who later warmly shook hands with Larijani.


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U.S. Arab allies have harsh words for Iran at Mideast economic forum

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan – Washington's Arab allies harshly criticized Iran's growing influence in the Middle East, telling the country's top diplomat at a high-level conference Saturday that it must stay out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and be more open about its nuclear ambitions.

Dominating many discussions at the World Economic Forum was the deadly violence between the Fatah Palestinian faction and Hamas militants, which has helped stall a Saudi Arabian-sponsored plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the plan would flounder partly because Israel has no intention of striking a peace deal, but Arab countries focused their criticism on Iran.

“We had some 130 plans in the past 30 years, but none of them were realized because of the approach of the other side (Israel),” Mottaki said during a panel discussion. “Besides, we do not see any chance for the success of the Arab peace initiative because it fails to address fateful issues, like the capital of a Palestinian state and the right of return for some 5 million refugees.”

Former Saudi ambassador to Washington Prince Turki al-Faisal scolded Iran, however, saying that the predominantly Persian country had little to do with Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
“It's an Arab issue and should be resolved within the Arab fold,” he said.

Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit was even more blunt, saying: “The Iranian foreign minister was wrong when he said there were 130 plans on Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking ... The Arab peace plan is the first of its kind. It presents a clear and detailed path to peacemaking.”

Mottaki insisted that his country's goal was to help the resolve the Middle East's concurrent crises, which he blamed on the U.S. and Israel.

“Iran was always part of the solution to the crisis in the region. We have been in contact with governments in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said during the panel on Mideast security and stability, which also included Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

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Pertinent Links:

1) US, Iran exchange accusations ahead of meeting

2) 2 US Republican senators allege they have 'evidence' Iran sent weapons, trained militants in Iraq

3) U.S. Arab allies have harsh words for Iran at Mideast economic forum