TEHRAN, 18 February 2005 — President Mohammad Khatami, whose country is in the US firing line over its nuclear activities, voiced Iran’s support yesterday for Syria and anti-Israeli groups.
“We respect the Syrians who are in the front-line in the fight against the Zionist regime and we salute their legitimate struggle to recover their occupied lands,” he said after talks with visiting Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Al-Otari.
“We support the resistance in Lebanon and all those fighting the (Israeli) occupation,” he was quoted as saying.
Otari on Wednesday said Iran and Syria should form a “united front” against threats from abroad, in an apparent reference to the intense US pressure against both regimes.
Earlier meeting the Syrian prime minister Khatami said Iran doesn’t want tensions in the Middle East.
“Iran supports peace and wants no tension in the Middle East as creating another crisis in this region would just waste energy which could be better used for working toward a just peace,” Khatami was quoted by the students’ news agency ISNA as saying.
Khatami was referring to the harsh rhetoric of the United States against Iran and Syria which both states have interpreted as military threats.
“Just peace however is only possible if not the oppressed side fighting for freedom of its occupied lands is accused as terrorist, but the oppressor,” said Khatami, referring to Israel and Iran-backed anti-Israeli militia groups.
Iran lambasted what it called foreign “psychological warfare” and warned yesterday it would respond to any military strike after a blast near a nuclear site sparked fears of attack.
“An attack, whatever it is, against any site, whether it be nuclear or not, would produce a very rapid response,” Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
Meanwhile, Iran said it will sign an agreement with Russia this month on the return of spent nuclear fuel, paving the way for startup of the Bushehr reactor.
