Attacking Iran Would Bring Disaster, Not Freedom


US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has given assurances that a military attack by her country on Iran “is simply not on the agenda at this point”.

But notwithstanding Rice’s disavowal, recent statements by the Bush administration, starting with President Bush’s State of the Union address and Vice President Dick Cheney’s comments about a possible Israeli military attack on Iran, are reminiscent of the rhetoric in the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

And Rice herself made clear that “the Iranian regime’s human rights behavior and its behavior toward its own population is something to be loathed.” American policy toward the Middle East, and Iran in particular, is often couched in the language of promoting human rights. No one would deny the importance of that goal. But for human rights defenders in Iran, the possibility of a foreign military attack on their country represents an utter disaster for their cause.

The situation for human rights in Iran is far from ideal. Security forces harass, imprison and even torture human rights defenders and civil society activists. The authorities attack journalists and writers for expressing their opinions and regularly shut down newspapers. Political prisoners languish in jails. Superfluous judicial summonses are routinely used to intimidate critics, and arbitrary detentions are common.

But Iranian society has refused to be coerced into silence. The human rights discourse is alive and well at the grassroots level; civil society activists consider it to be the most potent framework for achieving sustainable democratic reforms and political pluralism. Indeed, readers might be surprised to know how vigorous Iran’s human rights organizations are. Last autumn, when security forces unlawfully detained more than 20 young journalists and bloggers because of what they had written, independent Iranian organizations like the Center for Defense of Human Rights, the Association of Journalists for Freedom of Press, and the Students Association for Human Rights campaigned for their release.

This outcry, in tandem with support from the international community and organizations such as Human Rights Watch, led to the release of detainees. In fact, so great was the criticism that some of Iran’s most senior government officials came out in favor of releasing the detainees.

Independent organizations are essential for fostering the culture of human rights in Iran. But the threat of foreign military intervention will provide a powerful excuse for authoritarian elements to uproot these groups and put an end to their growth.

Human rights violators will use this opportunity to silence their critics by labeling them as the enemy’s fifth column. In 1980, after Saddam Hussein invaded Iran and inflamed nationalist passions, Iranian authorities used such arguments to suppress dissidents.

American hypocrisy doesn’t help, either. Given the long-standing willingness of the American government to overlook abuses of human rights, particularly women’s rights, by close allies in the Middle East, it is hard not to see the Bush administration’s focus on human rights violations in Iran as a cloak for its larger strategic interests.

Respect for human rights in any country must spring forth through the will of the people and as part of a genuine democratic process. Such respect can never be imposed by foreign military might and coercion — an approach that abounds in contradictions.

Not only would a foreign invasion of Iran vitiate popular support for human rights activism, but by destroying civilian lives, institutions and infrastructure, war would also usher in chaos and instability. Respect for human rights is likely to be among the first casualties.

Instead, the most effective way to promote human rights in Iran is to provide moral support and international recognition to independent human rights defenders, and to insist that Iran adhere to the international human rights laws and conventions that it has signed.

Getting the Iranian government to abide by these international standards is the human rights movement’s highest goal; foreign military intervention in Iran is the surest way to harm us and keep that goal out of reach.

Putin says he sure Iran not building nuclear arms

MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Iran a boost in its face-off with the United States over its nuclear programme, saying he was convinced the Islamic Republic was not trying to build atomic weapons.

He yesterday said Russia would press on with nuclear cooperation with Tehran, which involves construction of a reactor at Bushehr in southern Iran.

Putin's defence of Iran came in the face of U S concerns that Tehran could be using Russian know-how as a cover to build nuclear arms and less than a week before he meets U S President George W Bush for a summit.

''The latest steps by Iran convince Russia that Iran indeed does not intend to produce nuclear weapons and we will continue to develop relations in all sectors, including peaceful atomic energy,'' Putin told Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, at the start of Kremlin talks.

Putin's remark was certain to give Iran some comfort in its confrontation with the Bush administration, which has branded the Islamic Republic part of an ''axis of evil'' states bent on trying to develop nuclear weapons.

The Kremlin leader did not spell out what he meant by ''latest steps''.

But he could have been referring to Iran's agreement last year to suspend its uranium enrichment programme -- which can be used to make nuclear bombs -- and its continuing talks with EU countries to find ways to settle the stand-off diplomatically.

His unusually strong backing for Iran seemed to open up the possibility of Iran becoming a point of friction at his summit talks with Bush in the Slovak capital of Bratislava on Feb. 24.

Putin shows support for Iran

Nuclear activities peaceful, Russian says.

Published Saturday, February 19, 2005
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he is convinced Iran is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons and announced plans to visit the country, showing strong support for Tehran a week before a summit with President George W. Bush.

Putin’s bold expression of faith in Tehran starkly contradicts U.S. suspicions about the intentions of Iran, which Bush has labeled part of an "axis of evil" seeking weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorists.

"The latest steps from Iran confirm that Iran does not intend to produce nuclear weapons," Putin said at a meeting with Iranian National Security Council chief Hassan Rowhani. He said Russia "will continue to develop relations in all spheres, including the peaceful use of nuclear energy."

Russia is building a nuclear reactor for a power plant in Iran, a project the United States fears could be used to help Tehran develop nuclear weapons.

The $800 million project has harmed Russian-U.S. relations for more than a decade. U.S. concerns have been eased by Moscow’s refusal to send Iran nuclear fuel for the reactor unless all spent fuel is returned to Russia - an effort to ensure that it wouldn’t be reprocessed to extract plutonium, which could be used in weapons.

Next week in Iran, Russia’s nuclear chief is expected to sign a protocol on returning the spent fuel, the only remaining obstacle to the reactor’s expected launch next year.

Putin, who will meet with Bush Thursday in Slovakia, said he had accepted an invitation from Iran’s leadership to visit. The Kremlin said no date has been set.

The Russian president’s words are bound to alarm U.S. officials who have praised earlier statements that indicated he shared U.S. concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.

On Monday, a senior U.S. diplomat said Russia had "seen the light" in agreeing that Iran’s claims cannot be taken on faith because of the way it has misled the international community about its nuclear program in the past.

"There are good reasons to be suspicious of what Iran is doing," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday.

Rice has warned Iran to come clean or face the prospect of being brought before the U.N. Security Council.

A Russian analyst questioned whether Putin’s statement was based on actual information or on expediency. Russia has friendly ties with Iran and sees it as an important trade market for Russian industrial goods and services.

"To my mind, it’s hard to find arguments to support Putin’s declaration," said Anton Khlopkov, director of the PIR Center, which studies weapons issues. "Iran is potentially an important strategic partner for Russia ... with a whole series of coinciding interests."

At the Kremlin meeting, Putin did say that the "spread of nuclear weapons on the planet does not aid security."

"We hope that Iran will strictly adhere to all international agreements, in relation to Russia and the international community," he said.

Russia does not want the issue to come before the Security Council, where support for a resolution against Tehran could ruin relations with Iran and where a veto would bluntly defy the United States.

"Russia intends not to allow the isolation of Iran," Khlopkov said.

With Security Council referral and Washington’s refusal to rule out military action in Iran looming in the background, Russia is supporting European diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to permanently abandon its uranium enrichment program.

"We think that Russia can play an important role in this process," Rowhani said.


Iran has no plan to build Nuclear bomb: Putin

MOSCOW (Russia): Russia is convinced that Iran has no intention of developing atomic weapons and will continue to cooperate with Tehran in the civilian nuclear sector, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

“The latest steps on Iran’s behalf persuade us that Iran has no intention of building an atomic weapon.... Consequently, we will continue to cooperate with Iran in all fields, including in nuclear energy,” Putin said as he greeted Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, at the Kremlin.

Russia however was “deeply convinced that the proliferation of nuclear arms on the planet does not contribute to security either for the region or the world,” Putin said.

“We hope that Iran will strictly respect all committments its has made bilaterally with Russia and internationally,” the Russian president stated.

Rowhani said Russia had a role of “great importance” to play in resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.

Putin said he had been invited by the Iranian leadership to visit Tehran and was “preparing for this visit,” Interfax news agency reported. Dates for Putin’s trip to Iran would be set later, he said.

Putin’s meeting with Rowhani came a day after both countries announced that a crucial agreement obliging Iran to return all spent nuclear fuel to Russia would be signed on February 26.

An agreement on the return to Russia of spent nuclear fuel has been the key impediment to completion of an 800-million-dollar project led by Russia to build the plant in Bushehr, southern Iran.

Moscow and the West both fear Iran could reprocess the spent fuel delivered from Russia by upgrading it through centrifuges to either make a weak “dirty bomb” or an actual nuclear weapon.

The United States and Israel had jointly launched an international campaign against the Bushehr project, but Moscow countered that it would make sure the plant remained harmless to protect its own security interests.

Tehran has in the past used various arguments to avoid signing the agreement. It has said the material was too volatile and dangerous to transport back to Russia and also that Moscow was charging too much for the fuel itself.

The United States accuses Iran of using atomic energy as a cover for weapons development, a charge Tehran denies.

Bush Outlines Goals for European Trip

WASHINGTON -- On the eve of his trip to Europe to patch the trans-Atlantic relationship, President Bush says he doesn't believe the West is split between an "idealistic United States and a cynical Europe."

"America and Europe are the pillars of the free world," Bush said in his weekly radio address Saturday, the day before he leaves on a five-day trip to Belgium, Germany and Slovakia.

"Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic understand that the hopes for peace in the world depend on the continued unity of free nations," he said. "We do not accept a false caricature that divides the Western world between an idealistic United States and a cynical Europe."

Iraq will be a top agenda item during the president's talks with European leaders and officials of NATO, the European Union and the European Commission. The United States wants to see a larger international role in Iraq, particularly in training its military and police.

U.S. hopes for a larger NATO role suffered a setback last Sunday when Germany rebuffed the alliance's request for help to protect U.N. operations in Iraq. France and Germany, which opposed the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein, have prevented the alliance from developing a wider role in Iraq, and have refused to send their own troops, even on the training mission in Baghdad that NATO has authorized.

Germany has emphasized its efforts to help Iraq in other ways - through military and police training outside the country, economic aid and debt relief. France has stressed its command of NATO peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

In his radio address, Bush didn't mention the NATO mission. Instead, he singled out nations that helped with the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.

"In Iraq, our shared commitment to free elections has stripped the car bombers and assassins of their most powerful weapon, their claim to represent the wishes and aspirations of the Iraqi people," he said.

"In these elections, the European Union provided vital technical assistance, NATO is helping to train army officers, police and civilian administrators of a new Iraq and 21 of our European coalition partners are providing forces on the ground."

Outlining his goals for the trip, the president also said he would discuss how to best advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians; trade issues; and reducing European barriers to American agricultural goods.

"Even the best of friends do not agree on everything," he said, adding that America and Europe need to cooperate to fight terrorism and poverty and promote trade and peace.

"That makes our trans-Atlantic ties as vital as they have ever been," he said.

In advance of his trip, Bush on Friday spoke of Iran during interviews at the White House with broadcasters and correspondents from Russia, France, Belgium, Slovakia and Germany.

He said the United States does not intend to attack Iran to crush its suspected nuclear weapons project and expressed hopes that a European diplomatic initiative would persuade Tehran to abandon any such program.

When asked about an opinion poll showing that 70 percent of Germans believe the United States is planning military action against Iran, Bush replied: "I hear all these rumors about military attacks, and it's just not the truth."

He said he wants diplomacy to succeed in persuading Iran not to produce nuclear weapons.

"Listen, first of all, you never want a president to say 'never.' But military action is certainly not - it's never the president's first choice," he said. "Diplomacy is always the president's first - at least my first choice."

Bush said he supports European nations' efforts to persuade Iran to scrap its uranium enrichment program in exchange for technological, financial and political support.

He did not address U.S. reservations about Europe's approach. The United States has refused to get involved in the bargaining with Tehran or to make commitments, insisting that Iran abandon its program.

"I believe diplomacy can work so long as the Iranians don't divide Europe and the United States," Bush said. "There's a lot more diplomacy to be done."

US military investigates killing of two Afghans close to Iran border(AP)


KABUL - The US military is investigating why American troops fatally shot two civilians outside a base near Afghanistan’s western border with Iran, officials said Saturday.


US troops opened fire on the two unarmed men after they entered an exclusion zone around the base on Feb. 11 near Shindand Air Base in Herat province, said a spokesman for the provincial government.

“Regrettably, two local nationals were killed, and we’re investigating the situation right now,” said Maj. Steve Wollman, a spokesman for the US military.

The two families of the victims’ had received 100,000 Afghanis (US$2,300) each in a “payment of condolence, but that’s not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing,” he said.

Wollman gave no details of the incident, but provincial government spokesman Mohammedullah Afzali identified the two men as Naib and Rasul from the nearby village of Moghelan.

He said the two had apparently entered the area close to the base looking for wood or scrap metal to sell in the local market and had tried to run away when challenged by a group of American soldiers. The soldiers then opened fire.

“The fact is that these people were in the area near the airport where locals are not allowed,” Afzali said. “It was a mistake by those two people and at the same time a misunderstanding by the Americans.”

He said the provincial governor has visited the two families last week to express his sympathy and had also given them US$500 each.

US and Afghan forces have been stationed at the old Soviet-built air base in Shindand, about 580 kilometers (360 miles) west of Kabul, since bloody factional fighting last August resulted in the ouster of regional strongman Ismail Khan as governor.

Wollman said US troops embedded as trainers with Afghan army units as well as American military police were at Shindand. He said he didn’t know if there were any US special forces there.

The American military is already investigating the deaths of several Afghans in custody as well as allegations of abuse brought by former detainees similar to those made against US forces in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Afghan officials have warned that such cases will play into the hands of insurgents and undermine American efforts to win over ordinary Afghans.

US Army documents released on Friday showed that pictures of US soldiers in Afghanistan posing with hooded and bound detainees during mock executions were destroyed after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq to avoid another public outrage.

The Army documents also describe a probe into complaints by senior psychological operations officers in Afghanistan that they saw assaults by special forces on civilians during raids in May 2004 in two villages near Kabul.

That investigation was suspended because the victims could not be interviewed and prospective witnesses were enemy forces, the Army said in its documents.

Wollman referred questions about the alleged assaults to the US Department of Defence in Washington.


PUTIN TO VISIT IRAN


TEHRAN, February 19 (RIA Novosti's Nikolai Terekhov) - Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Hasan Rowhani said that a number of documents on cooperation would be signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's forthcoming visit to Iran.

"The Russian Federation and Iran have several joint projects, in particular, the purchase of passenger liners from Moscow, the construction of the second unit of the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, the issue of ships on the Caspian Sea and others," Mr. Rowhani told journalists on arriving from Moscow on Saturday.

"Some agreements have been already drafted and will be signed during Vladimir Putin's forthcoming visit to Iran," Mr. Rowhani noted.

In his words, the exact time of the Russian President's visit has not been fixed yet.

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