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Khatami Accuses U.S. of Steering World Towards War
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“The
most oppressive and cruel government in the world, Israel, is
being supported by the U.S.”
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KUALA
LUMPUR, July 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday, July 23, accused the United States of
steering the world along a "frightening" path towards war in
its fight against terrorism.
Speaking
at a news conference on the second day of a visit to Malaysia, Khatami
also condemned plans for U.S. military action against Iraq to oust
President Saddam Hussein, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
"We
live in a very frightening situation today. In the course of world
history, we have never witnessed war being promoted so much," he
said.
"Even
in the course of the two world wars and the very difficult era of the
Cold War, never has such an environment of war been created in the
world by the U.S. and the U.S. administration."
In
an address at Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International
Studies, the Iranian President later cautioned “the great powers
against further interference in the affairs of (the Middle East) and
against the exacerbation of the flames of war.”
“When
you look at the Middle East situation, you see that the most
oppressive and cruel government in the world, Israel, is being
supported by the U.S. and the U.S. has remained alone in its support
of Israel.
“If
the U.S. wants to live in a peaceful environment minus threats of
terrorism it has to eradicate poverty and discrimination and promote
equality and justice."
U.S.
President George W. Bush has named Iran as part of an "axis of
evil" along with Iraq and North Korea, but Khatami told the news
conference: "Iran has never trodden on the path of evil."
He
said: "Evilness is terrorism, it is war, humiliation and insult.
It is occupying other people's land and displacing them... evilness is
to accept democracy in some parts of the world and deny it in
others."
While
terrorism was a "very horrendous and dangerous phenomenon",
U.S. behavior in the aftermath of last September's terror attacks was
misguided, Khatami said.
"The
behavior of the U.S. today is neither in the interest of the U.S. nor
of the world... today there are great threats against various nations
and governments initiated by the U.S. administration and in the long
term, this is a concern to all of us."
Referring
to the threat of a U.S. attack on Iraq, Khatami urged Washington to
accept that other nations have a right to choose their own paths, AFP
said.
He
said Iran had fought an eight-year war with Iraq and believed Baghdad
should abide by UN Security Council resolutions and by world public
opinion.
"But
at the same time, we condemn any foreign interference in Iraq and we
recognize their sovereign integrity. No one has the right to decide
for the people of Iraq, they should decide for themselves."
Khatami
urged the United Nations to lead the anti-terror war and remove the
roots of terrorism, which he named as prejudice, discrimination,
national humiliation and violation of human rights.
Khatami
blamed foreign interference for disunity in the Muslim world and said
the formation of an Islamic union, which he proposed during talks
Monday with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, would turn the
Islamic bloc into a "great power".
"If
Islamic countries join hands, they can tread the path of development
and progress much faster and at a much lower cost," he said,
adding that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) could lay
the groundwork for such an initiative.
Both
Iran and Malaysia belong to the 57-member OIC and Kuala Lumpur is due
to take over its chairmanship next year.
The
Iranian president, who is accompanied by his wife and a 91-member
delegation, leaves this Southeast Asian nation on Wednesday, July 24.
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