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Iraqi Minister Threatens Mullahs On Backing Terror

July 21, 2004
The New York Sun
Michael Saucier

Iraq's defense minister yesterday threatened the Islamic Republic of Iran with reprisals for backing terrorists and warned Tehran against intruding in Baghdad's internal affairs...In a threat directed at the mullahs in Iran, Mr. Shalan told Gulf-based Al-Arabiya television: "If they do not stop this, we will move it to their own streets."

Iraq's defense minister yesterday threatened the Islamic Republic of Iran with reprisals for backing terrorists and warned Tehran against intruding in Baghdad's internal affairs.

The accusation that Iranian-backed terrorists are targeting the interim government came a day after the new Iraqi government said it expected to have good relations with Iran.

In an interview with the London based Asharq Awsat newspaper, Iraq's defense minister, Hazem Shalan, blamed the Iranians for interfering in its internal affairs and accused Tehran of supporting foreign Islamic terrorists fighting alongside holdouts from Saddam Hussein's regime.

In a threat directed at the mullahs in Iran, Mr. Shalan told Gulf-based Al-Arabiya television: "If they do not stop this, we will move it to their own streets."

"They confess to the presence of their spies in Iraq who have a mission to shake up the social and political situation," the Daily Telegraph quoted Mr. Shalan as saying. "Iranian intrusion has been vast and unprecedented since the establishment of the Iraqi state."

Mr. Shalan told Asharq Awsat: "The Iranians have infiltrated the various departments of the state in general and have set up intelligence and security centers in several Iraqi cities."

Yesterday's saber-rattling was a sharp turn from the language used by Iraq's top diplomat in America, Rend al-Rahim Francke, the day before. Ms. Francke, chief of Iraq's diplomatic mission in Washington, told the Associated Press that Iran so far has had a positive role in Iraq. In the interview, she rejected suggestions that Iran supports terrorism in Iraq, saying, "It is not in Iran's interest for Iraq to be in turmoil. If Iraq turns into a haven for terrorists, not only Iraq but all countries in the region will be affected."

Today in Cairo, Egypt, at a meeting of foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors, Iraq is expected to complain about terrorists flowing into the country and ask that they do more to secure their borders.

The Islamic Republic is concerned about the emergence of a pluralistic democracy in Iraq. The Tehran mullahs have strong influence among some leaders of the Shiite community, concentrated mostly in southern Iraq. Iran hopes Shiites, almost two-thirds of all Iraqis, will control the future politics in Baghdad. Kurds and, to a lesser degree, Sunni Arabs, demand strong protection for minorities.

The Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, is scheduled to meet with foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Iran, Syria, and Jordan. The U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and European Union representative Javier Solana also were planning to attend the parley.

Since the new government's inception, terrorists have more and more focused on its members. On Monday, a fuel tanker rigged as a bomb killed nine at a Baghdad police station. That bombing was the fourth in a string of attacks on government facilities in five days. At least 77 people have been killed since the new government took power. Yesterday in Basra, gunmen killed Hazim al-Aynachi, a gubernatorial candidate, and his bodyguard and driver as they were leaving his driveway for work, the Associated Press reported.

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