U.S. Wary of Iranian Influence in Iraq
February 13, 2004
USA Today
Barbara Slavin
The Bush administration is increasingly concerned about a buildup of Iranian spies and militants in Iraq and about Iran's support for groups with a history of anti-U.S. terrorism.
Although the administration has not openly criticized Iran about the influx recently, four high-ranking U.S. military and State Department officials, who spoke on condition they not be named, said they worry that Iran is trying to influence, and possibly disrupt, plans for a transition to Iraqi rule.
Iran is setting up civilian and armed cells in Iraq to intimidate Iraqis and covertly influence elections, says one of the four officials, a high-level officer with the U.S. military command in Baghdad.
Because the topic is so sensitive, U.S. officials won't discuss it on the record. Iranian officials deny trying to manipulate the transition or set up terrorist cells in Iraq. "None of these accusations have any foundation," says Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations. "We seek a stable Iraq, the return of sovereignty and the establishment of a democratic and representative system."
With a June 30 deadline looming to transfer political power to Iraqis, the Bush administration hopes Iran will not derail the transition, but it has no guarantees. "One coalition official told me candidly, 'We're relying on Iranian goodwill,' " says Jonathan Schanzer, a terrorism expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Schanzer returned from Iraq last week.
Since the fall of Baghdad in April, Iraq's 900-mile border with Iran has not been patrolled as strictly as it was under Saddam Hussein. Thousands of Iranians have entered Iraq, apparently with their government's blessing. Most are believed to be pilgrims visiting Shiite Muslim shrines. But some have a political agenda, the U.S. officials say.
The key question: What are Iran's intentions?
Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East expert at the Congressional Research Service, says Iran has little interest now in disrupting a transition that seems likely to turn Iraq into a more overtly Islamic state. Iran fought a decade-long war with Iraq in the 1980s and was pleased by the overthrow of Saddam's secular, Sunni Muslim regime.
"The Iranians believe their ship is coming in and that Shiite Islamicists will achieve dominance," Katzman says. Shiites account for 60% of Iraq's 25 million people.
Among U.S. concerns:
• Iran is trying to build support for groups like Hezbollah. Hezbollah was organized by Iran after Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. The group was responsible for anti-U.S. terrorism in the 1980s; its attacks on Israeli soldiers prompted Israel to end its occupation of southern Lebanon four years ago.
Schanzer says three different organizations calling themselves Hezbollah have offices in the mainly Shiite southern city of Basra. One is next door to the Basra governor's office.
Raymond Tanter, another Middle East expert at the Washington Institute, quotes Iranian dissidents as saying Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guards also have established a covert Iraqi Hezbollah organization with headquarters in the southern city of Al Amarah and branches in other cities. "The Iranians are setting up an intelligence infrastructure in Iraq," Tanter says. "They can use it for political influence and/or military action."
Iran is building on links with other Iraqi Shiite groups, including the Dawa, or "Islamic Call," movement. The group was banned while Saddam was in power, but it now operates freely as a political party. Iran also has long ties with the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), an Iraqi group based in Iran during Saddam's rule. Dawa and SCIRI have representatives on Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council. SCIRI has its own Iranian-trained militia, the so-called Badr Brigades.
• Iran is letting terrorists linked to al-Qaeda infiltrate Iraq. "Iran is the segue from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Iraq," Schanzer says.
• Iran is supporting social services for Iraqi Shiites in another bid to gain influence.
State Department officials say the Iranian presence in Iraq could be a form of insurance policy to deter the Bush administration from efforts to undermine the Iranian regime, which is facing a surge of protests from moderates. Two years ago, President Bush labeled Iran a member of an "axis of evil" for its support of Palestinian and Lebanese militants and efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Mindful of Iran's leverage in Iraq, the United States has recently been more conciliatory. Last month, U.S. authorities in Iraq shut down a radio station operated by the Mujahedin el-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian dissident group that had been harbored by Saddam. U.S. authorities also took DNA samples from several thousand MEK members under U.S. guard in apparent preparation to charge some with terrorist crimes.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-02-12-iran-iraq-usat_x.htmIran's Khamenei calls for mass voter turnout
Friday, February 13, 2004
IranMania News
TEHRAN, Feb 13 (AFP) -- Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Friday for Iranians to turn out in force to vote in next week's parliamentary election and defeat what he called the enemies of the Islamic revolution.
"The people, for their own sake, for that of the country and the (Islamic) regime, must go to vote and ensure these elections are enthusiastically backed," Khamenei told tens of thousands of faithful gathered for traditional Friday prayers at Tehran University.
"Some people in the world, who do not want the welfare of our people, were seeking for these elections not to be held or be well supported," Khamenei said about the February 20 poll in remarks carried on state radio.
Iranian reformists had called for the elections to be postponed after the conservative Guardians Council vetting body barred thousands of candidates -- mainly reformists -- from the elections.
Some reformist parties have said they will boycott the poll.
"Our enemies have done everything against the revolution and have failed. Today they are seeking to create a gulf between the people and the leaders, but these elections are a response to the enemy who will learn that the people firmly defend their country and their regime," Khamenei added.
He strongly denounced some European parliaments who have criticised the massive barring of reform candidates.
"Certain European parliaments have gone beyond the limits. If their intervention was confined to simple words, it would be unimportant ... but if these words are transformed into interferance in our internal affairs, the people will given them an unforgettable lesson," he said.
"The elections are a barrier against the enemies ... People should go and vote en masse so the elections are held majestically," said Khamenei.
Implicitly criticising some reformists, he said they had tried to "discourage the voters, playing the game of the enemies" of the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei has intervened several times in the political crisis into which Iran plunged after the Guardians Council announced the banning in January, as the republic was preparing to celebrate its 25 anniversary.
It was he who insisted that the reformist-dominated government of President Mohammad Khatami go ahead and organise the elections.
On Friday, eight reformist parties announced they had set up a "Coalition for Iran" to contest the poll, the bloc's spokesman Ali Akbar Mohtashami-Pur, said, cited by the student news agency ISNA.
Among the parties are that of President Khatami, the Association of Religious Combattants.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=22531&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs