Dispute Between Iraqi Interior Ministry / Coalition Forces Results in Expulsion of Iranian Diplomat

Mehr News Agency ^ | 9 April 2004 | Unknown

[Cap Huff]

TEHRAN, April 9 (Mehr News Agency) -- A political analyst close to the Iraqi Governing Council said the order to expel Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, Iran’s charge d’affaires in Iraq, was a result of sharp differences between the Iraqi Interior Ministry and the coalition forces.

The analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency correspondent in Iraq that the decision was made entirely by U.S. officials, adding that relations between coalition forces and Iraqi Interior Minister Nuri Badran cooled after his recent visit to Iran.

With fierce fighting between supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr and coalition forces in recent days, the U.S. decision appears to be an attempt to sabotage Iran-Iraq relations and give the impression that Iran is involved in the Shia unrest.

He said Iran’s charge d’affaires had played a key role in establishing contacts between Iranian officials and the Iraqi Governing Council and institutions, which was not welcome by U.S officials and their supporters.

The reasons given for the expulsion, such as the fact that Kazemi-Qomi has a military background, are not acceptable since many diplomats have a military and security background, the analyst argued.

He said that a handful of fanatic Iraqi nationalists opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran and remnants of the terrorist group Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) influenced the decision.

[Frank_Discussion]

Coalition Forces Results in Explosion of Iranian Diplomat

[Cap Huff]

Typo?

[Cap Huff]

FYI

[Steel Wolf]

Memo to Iran: We know what you're up to, and we don't like it. Keep pushing your luck and see what else happens.

[F14 Pilot]

There have been big disputes on this topic in the Media.
Thanks for the post!

[Cap Huff]

I'd missed those. The last few days I've not taken the time to google this Qomi guy. I decided to do so today with all the indications of the Iranian source for the violence in Iraq. That student email seems to have had this one nailed good.

[F14 Pilot]

It was reported on Iran's thread! Find it there!

[ought-six]

Iran's dirty fingerprints are all over the unrest in Iraq.

[Cap Huff]

Absolutely.

[F14 Pilot]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1112423/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1112423/posts?page=72#72

For your Ref.

[ought-six]

"Memo to Iran: We know what you're up to, and we don't like it. Keep pushing your luck and see what else happens."

It would be nice if we stood up to Iran, but we won't. The heart and soul of Islamic terrorism is rooted smack dap in the middle of Iran. We cannot win the WOT without knocking out the Islamic Republic of Iran. And they either have or are just short of having a nuclear weapon. We will pussy foot around that issue, but Israel won't. Israel will hit Iran's nuke facilities just like it hit Iraq's at Osira in the early 1980s.

[Steel Wolf]

There's more than one way to skin a cat, amigo. We are taking the non direct approach for exactly the reason you stated: the heart and soul of Islamic extremism in action is Iran.

They are a dangerous foe, but one with many vulnerabilities. If Bush is as crafty as he seems, I'd imagine that we're working plenty of angles you won't see on TV.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[mabelkitty]

If Iraq was a state, we wouldn't have these problems.
How about U.S. Territory?

[Cap Huff]

It would end up at the Supreme Court.

[eyespysomething]

http://www.rferl.org/reports/iran-report/2004/02/8-230204.asp

23 February 2004

IRAN ENCOURAGES IRAQ-BASED MUJAHEDIN TO RETURN. Iraqi Governing Council member Muhsin Abd-al-Hamid met on 17 February with an unnamed individual identified only as "the Iranian ambassador to Iraq" (Iran is represented in Iraq by charge d'affaires Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, who was appointed in December 2003; he previously served as consul-general in Herat) and said Iran is ready to receive members of the armed opposition Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) after they receive pardons, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq's (SCIRI) Voice of the Mujahedin reported.

German Federal Border Police arrested 11 suspected MKO members at Frankfurt's Rhein-Main Airport, IRNA reported on 17 February, citing the daily "Die Tageszeitung." The individuals had arrived from Amman, and the authorities confiscated their passports. The 11 face deportation hearings and, according to the report, another 11 MKO members might have their asylums revoked.

The U.S. State Department views the Iraq-based MKO as a foreign terrorist organization and, since President George W. Bush declared "the end of combat operations" in Iraq on 1 May 2003, Washington has been at something of a loss over how to deal with its personnel. Tehran has offered an amnesty to lower-ranking MKO members. (Bill Samii)

[Cap Huff]

Interesting. Thanks for the post and the link.