Tension between U.S. and Iran does not mean that war is likely
By Michael Nakoryakov
Talk about growing pains. Were Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini still alive, he would be seriously upset with his little grandson Hossein.
Last week in Washington, D.C., Hossein Khomeini, now 46, had few kind words for his grandfather's followers, blaming them for establishing a theocratic dictatorship in Iran and sponsoring terrorism in Iraq.
Hossein Khomeini told the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank, that Iran was "a huge supporter" of terrorism and that its religious leaders had betrayed the 1979 revolution that ousted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi by failing to keep their promises to the Iranian people. "The goal of the revolution was the creation of democracy and freedom," he said.
Hard as many Americans could find it to believe, Hossein Khomeini's account sounds like a relatively fair assessment.
No doubt, the post-1979 Iran largely has been a Muslim extremist nightmare and a U.S. foe, and the fate of 62 Americans, held hostage there for many months two decades ago, was a tragedy. But, the warm feelings between the late shah and the U.S. leadership aside, Reza Pahlavi's corrupt reign was an authoritarian disaster for its 66 million people. Most Iranians wanted the shah out. That goal united thousands of people of various political stripes, from ultraconservatives to anarchists to Moscow-backed Marxists, and the hard-core Islamists just proved the strongest and most organized at the end.
The shah's loyalty to the United States was not carved in stone, either. Of course there were plenty of bear hugs and smiles when Reza Pahlavi traveled to Washington with his attractive young wife, but the front-page pictures of him kissing then-Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the mid-1970s should have been a much bigger shocker than the recent Madonna-Britney Spears MTV Awards encounter.
And it was long before today's concerns over oil-rich Iran's nuclear ambitions that the shah proclaimed the beginning of Iran's "white revolution" -- an ambitious late-1960s program that involved a complete rearming of the country's military and building a large network of nuclear power plants (read: potential sources of weapons-grade uranium).
The U.S. antipathy toward Iran was strong enough in the aftermath of the hostage crisis that the Reagan administration actively supported Saddam Hussein in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. But since then, Iran has taken steps to open itself up to the West. In 1997, the Iranians elected a moderate, Sayed Mohammad Khatami, as president, even though his authority has been restrained by the mullahs. A much-publicized U.S.-Iran soccer game a few years back, the recent large-scale anti-ayatollahs street rallies in Tehran and the obvious popularity of pro-reform politicians in Iran offer a preview of new, better times.
But, even though Iran quietly cooperated with the American military during the 2001-2002 conflict in Afghanistan, the Islamic republic remains on the State Department list of states that support terrorists. U.S. intelligence officials say Iran has ties to Middle Eastern terrorist groups ranging from Hamas and Hezbollah to al-Qaida.
And Iran's nuclear program remains a stumbling block.
Iran insists the new plant in Beshehr, being built with the help of Russia, is strictly for generating electricity. But the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors earlier this year found highly enriched uranium particles at another Iranian nuclear plant in Natanz, which the IAEA deemed "not consistent" with Iran's stated peaceful purposes. The inspectors later said that they have found additional traces of weapons-grade uranium at another site. Last month, with U.S. encouragement and backing, the IAEA's governing board voted unanimously to give Iran an Oct. 31 deadline to prove it is not making nuclear weapons.
Maybe Iran will prove that. After all, the Iranian foreign minister said last week in New York that his nation's supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has forbidden the production of nuclear weapons as haram, or prohibited on religious grounds. In Iran, an ayatollah's orders aren't taken lightly.
The question is, what if Iran fails to demonstrate its peaceful intentions? Will it have to be treated with another "shock and awe," as its former "axis of evil" companion was treated recently?
Apparently, Hossein Khomeini wouldn't mind that at all. "The U.S. invasion is really a blessing for the people of Iraq," he said. In contrast, he said, "Iranians are frustrated, not hopeful, but lacking a movement to bring about their yearning to be free."
Yet, there is no sign Bush is prepared to go beyond the testy words, and the harsh reality of trying to rebuild Iraq may have something to do with that.
One key lawmaker on Capital Hill praised the president's decision to work with the United Nations. "It 's the right course," said Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "You can't go around and wage war every time there's a problem." Hear, hear.
Michael Nakoryakov is editor of The Salt Lake Tribune's World Desk. His foreign affairs column dates to 1991, when he came to The Tribune after 11 years as a journalist in Moscow. His e-mail address is
michaelvn@sltrib.com http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Oct/10052003/opinion/98452.aspIran's policewomen return to the beat
By Miranda Eeles
BBC correspondent in Tehran
Policewomen in Iran will soon be joining their male counterparts and working on the beat in Tehran.
At their graduation ceremony on Saturday they trooped in front of President Khatami together with thousands of male police officers.
It is the first time since the 1979 revolution that women have graduated from the police training college to become fully trained officers.
Swearing allegiance to the Islamic Republic and to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, more than 200 policewomen gathered on the outskirts of the Iranian capital to attend their graduation ceremony.
They were dressed in smart black, green and gold chadors, the Islamic garment which covers women from head to toe.
Some carried guns while others held ceremonial swords.
Twenty-four year-old Susan Jejod Nejad said it was one of the best days of her life:
"Today I'm so happy because after three years I'm graduating and now I know how to shoot... and all the things that a real policewoman is, I know it".
The new recruits have been training since 1999 at the Kotar complex in Tehran.
Aged between 17 and 25 they have taken intensive military courses, including judo, fencing, using firearms and laying mines.
It has been nearly 25 years since women have played such an active role.
After the revolution women in the police worked mostly in administration.
Now, with the easing of restrictions and with more and more crimes being committed by women, the government decided it was necessary to have policewoman back on the beat.
There has been much speculation about what they will wear.
Reports say rather than the all-encompassing chador, their uniform will consist of trousers and a long coat. The new recruits are expected to start their duties immediately.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3164946.stm