- Iran has given its blessing to against Iraq as long as
it is endorsed by the United Nations, according to British and Iranian
officials.
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- Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, a receptive ear in
Teheran yesterday, belying the animosity that has frequently bedevilled
relations between the two countries.
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- In talks with senior Iranian leaders, British officials
said Mr Straw began to discuss the "day after" - what happens
in Iraq once Saddam has fallen - and how Iran's interests could be "looked
after".
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- In public, the Iranian foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi,
said Iran wanted a peaceful solution and said nothing to endorse Mr Straw's
argument that only a credible threat of force can convince Saddam Hussein
to disarm.
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- "We say we are against war and we feel that through
diplomatic means, and through the United Nations, we can solve the issue
and we can force Iraq to give up weapons of mass destruction."
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- In private, however, there are growing signs that Iran
will not stand in the way of US-led action against its long-standing foe.
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- One senior Iranian diplomat said: "We have known
for a long time that Saddam is evil but the West did not listen to us and
supported Saddam instead. The West only learnt the lesson after the invasion
of Kuwait. Still, if you get a UN resolution, you can go to war."
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- Teheran has declared it would pursue of "active
neutrality" in a conflict in Iraq.
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- One senior British source predicted that the Iranians
already assumed war was inevitable. But Iran still harbours deep doubts
about the prospect of military action in Iraq after the war in Afghanistan
removed the Taliban in Afghanistan on its eastern border.
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- "The Iranians are schizophrenic about this. On the
one hand, they hate Saddam. On the other, an attack on Iraq just adds to
their feeling of encirclement and their sense of having no natural allies
in the region.
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- Moreover, Iran fears it may be next in the sights of
America's generals because President George W Bush this year declared that
was part of a global "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North
Korea. "Iran was very helpful during the war in Afghanistan but all
we got was the axis of evil speech," complained the Iranian diplomat.
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- "This time we will not be so helpful and we will
have to look after our own interests. For example, Iran should also get
compensation for the war that Iraq started, like Kuwait."
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- "The Iranians want reassurance but in many ways
they can help themselves," said a senior British source. "They
have a nuclear programme, and have to provide reassurances about that."
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- Mr Straw met President Mohammad Khatami and had a rare
meeting with Hassan Rouhani, the powerful secretary of the Supreme National
Council, the country's main security body.
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- Mr Straw is likely to have heard Iran's concerns, including
the return of Iranian prisoners of war, the status of the disputed Shatt
al-Arab waterway and the need to safeguard the interests of Iraq's majority
Shi'ite population.
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- Mr Straw said he wanted a "constructive" dialogue
with Iran but hardliners greeted his visit with hostility. Teheran has
become the capital most visited by Mr Straw after Washington and Brussels.
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- The trip was made possible by Britain's decision to back
down in a diplomatic row with Iran the appointment of a new British ambassador.
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- The hardline daily Jomhoori-e Islami said Iranians "hated"
Britain and regarded its officials as "cunning enemies". However,
Mr Straw and Mr Kharrazi made a show of friendship as they appeared at
a joint press conference.
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- Mr Straw lashed out at American Christian "fundamentalists"
as he denounced comments by the Rev Jerry Falwell, who was quoted this
week as describing the Prophet Muhammad as a "terrorist".
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- Mr Straw said Mr Falwell was "well-known but not
important". He added: "I regard his remarks, if they were reported
correctly, as outrageous and insulting."
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/
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