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Iranian official calls for attack on UK
Oct. 25, 2008
Jonny Paul, Jerusalem Post correspondent in London, THE JERUSALEM POST

Fearing a US strike on Iran during President George W. Bush's last
months in office, a senior Iranian official has suggested the Islamic
regime should target London to deter such an attack.

In an article on the Iranian Web site Aftab last week — translated by
the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute — the head
of the Europe and US Department in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Wahid
Karimi, said that an attack on London would deter the US from
attacking Teheran.

"The most appropriate means of deterrence that Iran has, in addition
to a retaliatory operation in the [Gulf] region, is to take action
against London," Karimi said.

In the article, the Iranian official said that an attack might also
stem from the fact that presidents in their second terms are "usually
adventuresome."

Citing some examples he said: "US presidents are usually adventuresome
in their second terms. . . [Richard] Nixon, disgraced by the Watergate
scandal; [Ronald] Reagan, with the 'Irangate' adventure; [and Bill]
Clinton, with Monica Lewinsky — and perhaps George Bush, the sitting
president, will create a scandal connected to Iran's legitimate
nuclear activity so as not to be left behind."

He speculated that a US attack on Iran could come between next month's
presidential election and when the new president enters office in
January 2009.

"In the worst-case scenario, George Bush may perhaps persuade the
president-elect to carry out an ill-conceived operation against Iran,
prior to January 20, 2009 — that is, before the regime is handed over
and he ends his presence in the White House. The next president of the
US will have to deal with the consequences," he warned.

Admitting that previous Iranian warnings to paralyze "the
Jerusalem-occupying regime" to deter "American adventurism" has not
worked, Karimi said that "the most appropriate means of deterrence"
for Iran would be to attack London.

"If we agree that such a scenario — with America, England and Israel
at its center — is conceivable, then it would seem that the most
appropriate means of deterrence that Iran has, in addition to a
retaliatory operation in the [Gulf] region, is to take action against
London. Experience proves that the [part played] by politicians in Tel
Aviv and in London, in the [fanning of the] flames against Iran and in
the urging of America to strike Iran, is no less than [the part
played] by Bush," he said.

During a visit to Bahrain last Wednesday, the chairman of the Iranian
parliament, Ali Larijani, regarded by some as a moderate, rejected
claims that his country's support of militants fighting US forces in
Iraq could be considered support for terrorism.

"They are freedom fighters fighting to defend their country and
independence, that is not terrorism," he said.

Larijani, Iran's former nuclear negotiator, said Iran's support was
part of its commitment in the region to assist its neighbors in
fighting occupation, and accused the US, the West and Israel of
contradicting the values of freedom and democracy.

He also said that the ties between Teheran and Damascus were
strategic, and downplayed any impact that the indirect Syrian-Israeli
negotiations might have.

"Despite Israeli talk of peace, they continue to build settlements and
none of their alleged peace efforts have been achieved. The real
problem is with the Zionist entity because its existence depends on
creating conflict in the region," he said.

In an interview in the al-Wasat newspaper, he attacked US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice in a personal manner, referring to her not
having had children.

"The West needs to reconsider what they say. The top US diplomat
Condoleezza Rice, during the Israeli aggression against Lebanon,
described the war as 'the birth pangs of a new Middle East,'" he said.
"As a woman who did not try the experience of pregnancy, she seems to
not have known that a birth needs longer time than that."

In addition to supporting Hamas and Hizbullah, Iran has also been
supporting the Islamist insurgencies in Iraq and southern Afghanistan,
where British troops are based.
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