(Washington Times) Struan Stevenson - By sending thousands of Revolutionary Guards and intelligence agents into Iraq, as well as spending hundreds of millions of dollars to recruit mercenaries and enlist support among impoverished Iraqis, Tehran is hell-bent on steering the Jan. 30 elections in its favor. Its proxies in that country, including the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), have put forward a united slate, hoping to gain a majority in the newly elected parliament. The Iranian clerics have never been so close to realizing their decades-old dream of erecting a sister Islamic Republic in Iraq. On the nuclear issue, the recent agreement brokered by France, Germany, and the UK on behalf of the EU has given Tehran all that it wanted and more. The Iranians have committed themselves to virtually nothing permanent. In return, Iran received a host of incentives, including a light-water reactor as well as the promise of European technological expertise to advance its "peaceful" nuclear program.
2005-01-07 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive