[lbo-talk] The Idea of the Third World (was Re: Iran and LatinAmerica)

[Doug Henwood]

On Oct 2, 2007, at 9:44 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:

> The Iranians paid dearly for their independence, and they will not
> give it up and submit themselves to the domination of the US-led
> multinational empire easily.

Iran is nothing if not flexible.

---------------

Financial Times - October 1, 2007

Iran 'ready to help' US with Iraq stability
By Roula Khalaf and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran

Iran is ready to help the US stabilise Iraq if Washington were to  
present a timetable for withdrawing its troops from the country,  
Tehran's top security official said yesterday.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Ali Larijani, head of the  
Supreme National Security Council, which answers to Supreme Leader  
Ali Khamenei, rejected US claims that Tehran was providing weapons to  
Iraqi militias. He insisted instead that the trouble with Iraq was  
that the Bush administration was pursuing a "dead-end strategy".

In contrast, he suggested that both the US Democrats and Britain were  
getting it right in Iraq. The Democrats' push for a timetable for  
withdrawal "seems to be logical", he said, and the British were "more  
intelligent than the Americans", having made the "necessary  
adjustments" and retreated to Basra airport.

"If they [the Americans] had a clear definition of a timetable we'll  
help them to materialise it," Mr Larijani said. "If the US is  
persisting with its mistakes, it shouldn't ask for help from us."

The US has repeatedly accused Iran of undermining security in Iraq by  
supplying advanced roadside bombs and Iranian-made rockets to Shia  
militias. The US Senate last week called for the Revolutionary  
Guards, the elite force allegedly involved in Iraq, to be officially  
designated as a "foreign terrorist organisation".

Political analysts say Iran's strategy is to back the Shiadominated  
government in Baghdad but also to ensure that the US does not leave  
Iraq emboldened to undertake another military campaign.

Three rounds of talks between US and Iranian officials have been held  
in Baghdad but do not appear to have produced tangible results.

Mr Larijani, however, dismissed US accusations as "lies" and said  
Iran had asked for the names of Revolutionary Guard personnel that  
the US says are involved in helping Iraqi groups. He said Tehran had  
received no response.

At a time of growing suspicion that the US or Israel might resort to  
military strikes to prevent Iran from pursuing its controversial  
nuclear programme, Mr Larijani said Washington's failures in Iraq  
should be a warning against embarking on a new "adventure".

Refusing to specify what Iran's retaliation might be, he warned that  
the US should attack Iran if it wished "to receive Israel on a  
wheelchair" and predicted that the US would be "sticking its hand  
into a beehive".

Iran, he said, would pursue its co-operation with the International  
Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, and was  
ready to open discussion with world powers on its nuclear programme.  
But he made clear that Tehran had no intention of suspending uranium  
enrichment - a crucial demand by the UN Security Council and the  
condition set by the US and its allies for starting nuclear talks.