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Press-Afghanistan /POL/
Daily calls on Iran to adopt sensible Afghanistan policy
Tehran, Sept 19, IRNA -- The English-language daily 'Tehran Times' in
its opinion column on Wednesday called for adopting a sensible policy
towards Afghanistan to secure Iran's sociopolitical interests.
It says, in the post-revolutionary era, this region has
experienced numerous momentous events, coming one after another. The
eight-year war imposed on Iran, the departure of Soviet troops from
Afghanistan, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the formation of the
coalition government of Afghanistan and its subsequent ousting by the
Pakistan-backed Taliban, the occupation of Kuwait by Iraq, etc.
"In many of these events, if Iran's national interests had been
prioritized and if other irrelevant issues had not been given too much
weight and if the diplomatic apparatus had not been so feeble as to
reduce Iran's status to a mere spectator, maybe today the geopolitical
map of the region would be in favor of Iran in a way that befits the
aspirations of our great nation," the daily pointed out
It went on to say, "It was through such grave diplomatic
indiscretion that we practically surrendered the key to many Central
Asian republics to a minor rival such as Turkey and hence opened the
way to some non-regional adversaries. But Afghanistan's case was even
worse. The inconstant and often contradictory policies adopted towards
Afghanistan seriously jeopardized our national interests.
"No one would argue that having the Taliban in power in Afghanistan
is in our interests. Dilemmas such as narcotics trafficking, the
influx of Afghan refugees, border issues and especially the danger
facing our water supply are among the short term predicaments. In the
long run, if the Taliban entity managed to overrun all of Afghanistan,
we would have faced even grater dangers and the possibility of
territorial or even ethnic conflicts would not have be too far
fetched," noted the editorial.
The increasing tensions over the legal status of the Caspian Sea
in the north, a state headed by Saddam in the west, and the disputes
over the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf are all suggestive
of the extent of the animosity existing against Islamic Iran, Tehran
Times pointed out.
Hence, after numerous mistakes and misjudgments such as the
failure to support the Northern Alliance when the Taliban attacked
Kabul and Herat, now Iran has the opportunity to resolve the threat it
is facing from its eastern borders once and for all. By the same
token, further diplomatic mismanagement and blunders would certainly
amount to a historic disloyalty towards the nation and its interests,
warned the daily.
After the assassination of the heroic commander Ahmad Shah Masood,
his fellow comrades managed to curb the imminent threat of an
extensive Taliban push towards Tajikistan through a series of
ingenious initiatives. These initiatives included the initial denial
of his assassination, the prompt appointment of a worthy substitute,
General Mohammad Fahim, and speedy retaliation through a rocket attack
on Kabul airport. If such prudent countermeasures were not deployed so
swiftly, it can be imagined that Taliban would have reached the Amu
Darya River by now, highlighted the editorial.
"The failure of this plot has now given the neighboring countries
a new chance to try and prevent the horrific prospect of Taliban
domination over all Afghanistan. The Pakistan government has deceived
us many times in the past and their military government is once again
trying to assert itself as the only major player on the Afghanistan
scene. The clear green light given by the Pakistanis to Powell is an
obvious move in this direction," declared the daily.
Unfortunately, despite all the rhetoric, the United States has not
demonstrated any significant change of approach towards regional
issues. After pointing the finger at Bin Laden from practically the
first minutes after the attack, the Americans are once again tuning to
their traditional allies in their bid to generate support for hasty
retaliation. This is while these supposed allies are themselves the
very people who have bought the Taliban to power and have supported it
either financially or militarily over the years.
The daily pointed to the following diplomatic options which are
open to Iran:
1. Our first priority must be to draw legitimate international
organizations into this crisis and prevent this situation from turning
into some chaotic U.S. campaign with possible dire consequences for
the region and the entire world.
2. If the international community is convinced by the evidence
that incriminates Bin Laden in this attack, Iran should adopt an
active role in the international campaign and refrain from the kind of
inert and sluggish approach that it demonstrated in the Persian Gulf
war. Through its active involvement in an internationally sanctioned
campaign, the Islamic Republic of Iran could achieve the following
goals:
a) It would effectively defuse the Zionists' negative propaganda
against Iran and the Islamic world. b) Iran's contribution to a
U.N.-led campaign would strengthen the bargaining power of the legal
government of Afghanistan (the Northern Alliance), which would also
serve our strategic interests. c) Such a move would deal a severe blow
to the influential U.S.-based Zionist lobbies who have persistently
tried to endanger our national interests.
Needless to say, any intervention should be strictly subject to
international consensus reached in the United Nations, which is the
only legitimate organization legally entitled to sanction such action.
In these most crucial times, all domestic political factions must
adopt a unified and coordinated approach towards this crisis and
refrain from the usual factional bickering. "It is only through
national unity that we can serve our strategic interests in this
critical juncture," concluded the editorial.
MM/AH
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