TEHRAN, 18 April 2004 — Iranian President Mohammad Khatami vowed yesterday that Iran’s political system would “not melt” like the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, due to a strong army and people’s support. Speaking at a ceremony in Tehran marking the annual Army Day, Khatami said Iran was stable because of its strong army and popular support.
“Saddam’s regime was toppled by the coalition forces within a short time and de facto melted like snow by the summer sun,” said Khatami. “But Iran is acknowledged even by its enemies as the only stable spot in the region due to a strong army and support of the people,” he added.
Khatami also praised the army for its help during last December’s disastrous earthquake in Bam in southeast Iran. Iran’s armed forces are made up of the regular army and the Revolutionary Guards with a reported total of 500,000 to 700,000 troops. This number is increased to several millions in case of war such as during the 1980-1988 military invasion by Iraq when the so-called “Basijis”, voluntary forces, joined the revolutionary guards in the fronts.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi is to visit Italy today to discuss nuclear issues and Iraq, the state news agency IRNA said. IRNA, quoting a Foreign Ministry press release, said Kharrazi would “discuss nuclear issues and the latest regional and international developments, particularly the critical situation in Iraq and (his visit was) in response to the visit to Tehran of his Italian counterpart,” on Jan. 27.
Kharrazi has been seeking support for Iran’s case ahead of a June meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors’ meeting in June, and has recently met the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany.
In another development, Iraqi pirates injured a crew member of an Iranian container ship in the Gulf but the Iranian Coast Guard prevented them from seizing the vessel, a senior official was quoted as saying yesterday. The Hormuz-24, heading for the Iranian port of Khorramshahr near the border with Iraq, was “attacked by Iraqi pirates on Friday afternoon, resulting in the injury of a crew member and some damages to the vessel,” according to Abdolnabi Nassouri, the head of the Val-Fajr shipping line, which owns the ship.
