|
Iran Denounces Bush's Remarks As “Baseless”
 |
| "Either you're with us or against us," Bush warns. |
TEHRAN, Jan. 11, (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iran rejected U.S. President, George W. Bush's remarks about its seeking to destabilize the interim Afghan government, as a senior Iranian official in Kabul said his country had "extensive plans" for the reconstruction of war-ravaged Afghanistan, news agencies reported Friday, January 11, 2002.
"These statements are founded on baseless and undocumented information," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said Thursday, January 10, in Tehran, official Iranian News agency (IRNA) reported.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran gives a special importance to the return of peace and stability to Afghanistan and has operated actively in this direction," he said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the interference and presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan as the cause of instability," Asefi added.
Iran’s policy on neighboring Afghanistan is based on the protection of “that country's independence," said Asefi, adding that "Iran believes that the Afghan people should determine their own destiny in full independence."
In Kabul, meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Educational Affairs, Sadeq Kharrazi, said Thursday that Iran had "extensive plans" for the reconstruction of war-ravaged Afghanistan.
In a meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister, Abdullah Abdullah, Kharrazi said that "large common grounds" and "deep friendship" had helped Iranians and Afghans forge closer ties down in history.
Members of the team accompanying him on the visit will study grounds for Iran's participation in the Afghan rehabilitation, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister said, IRNA reported.
Iran is ready to help Afghanistan rebuild its historical Buddha statues, demolished last year by the Taliban regime in the Bamiyan province in central Afghanistan.
The Afghan Foreign Minister thanked Iran for assisting Afghans during the past two decades of civil war as well as its willingness to contribute to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. He further hoped that cooperation between the two countries would further develop, IRNA reported.
Heading a cultural and scientific delegation, Kharrazi arrived in Kabul Thursday.
Bush had warned Iran Iran earlir Thursday not to destabilize Afghanistan. He said Washington expected Tehran to hand over any members of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network who might have fled across the border from Afghanistan.
According to the New York Times, U.S. Special Forces around Herat reported that Iranian agents have allegedly threatened or bribed Afghan tribal leaders to undermine U.S.-backed programs.
Bush said his administration wanted to work with Iran to ensure the stability of Afghanistan, but warned: "If they [Iran] in any way, shape, or form try to destabilize the [Afghan] government, the coalition will deal with them... in diplomatic ways, initially."
"We would hope that they would continue to be a positive force in helping us to bring people to justice," Bush added.
U.S. officials are reportedly worried that Iran may be allegedly using arms shipments and cash in a bid to limit neighboring Afghanistan's pro-Western tilt and is enlisting members of Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network in the effort, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Bush sternly declared that this would be unacceptable. "We would hope, for example, they would not allow Al-Qaeda murderers to hide in their country," he said of Iran. "We would hope that, if that be the case, if someone tries to flee into Iran, that they would hand them over to us."
"If they [Iran] are a part of the coalition, they need to be an active member of the coalition."
"Either you're with us or against us," Bush said in a highly criticized threat, "and any nation that thwarts our ability to root terror out where it exists will be held to account one way or the other."
|
