Shia leader warns US not to stay on By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
The most prominent Iraqi Shia Muslim opposition leader warned the US on Tuesday that staying on in Iraq after a successful war to depose Saddam Hussein could trigger an armed uprising of Iraqis.
Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, Iran-based leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), said that diplomatic channels would be examined first.
But he told a press conference: "The Iraqi nation will resist and use any legitimate means against foreigners' occupation of Iraq, should they decide to remain.
"Legitimate means can include force and weapons," he added.
The ayatollah's warning underlines the dangers awaiting US forces if they come to be seen as an occupying, rather than liberating, force in Iraq.
Ayatollah al-Hakim heads a mainly Shia Muslim group that fought in the failed 1991 uprising against the Baghdad regime in southern Iraq.
The 64-year-old cleric, based in Iran since 1980, is strongly supported by Tehran's clerical establishment, also Muslim Shia.
The Sciri's armed wing, Badr Brigade, which is estimated to number between 12,000-15,000 in Iran, has been trained and equipped by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Around 5,000 of the brigade are thought to have crossed Iran's border into northern Iraq.
The rest are still waiting for the right time to head for southern Iraq, their stronghold.
Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, Iranian government spokesman, said "Iran would not allow any military activities or crossings for or against any sides" along its borders.
Iranian sources say that Ayatollah al-Hakim has been told by the US administration not to engage his small army during the war, while his role in the next Iraqi government would be considered.
Tehran, which has had no diplomatic ties with Washington since 1980, is concerned that a long-term US presence in the region could challenge the survival of the Islamic system.
It hopes its close relations with the main armed Kurdish and Shia opposition forces will help to safeguard its interests in post-war Iraq.
"Iran and the US in Iraq are like two small and big scorpions in one bottle, which can hurt each other should they fail to agree on a peaceful co-existence," Morad Veisi, a senior analyst, told the FT.
He insisted Iran was capable of obstructing US plans in Iraq if its interests were ignored, but added: "This is not to say that Iran now has any intentions to do so."
Iran was listed by US President George W. Bush alongside Iraq and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil".
It fought a bloody war against Iraq during 1980-1988, but has adopted a policy of "active neutrality" during the current crisis - condemning the war but supporting Iraqi opposition groups to set up an interim government.