NEW DELHI, 9 November 2007 — Unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran are proving to be an embarrassment for Washington itself, Iran’s Interior Minister Pour Mohammadi told a press conference here yesterday.
The Iranian minister urged New Delhi not to drift too close to Washington, emphasizing his country’s wish to be a major energy supplier to a “friendly” India.
Mohammadi said Tehran was determined to push ahead with plans to pipe gas to India via Pakistan, despite opposition from the United States and an increasing range of sanctions.
“We hope that India’s national interests will not be influenced from outside,” Pour Mohammadi said, adding that he had discussed “the unilateralism of the Americans” with Indian government leaders.
“India is growing fast and needs a lot of energy, and we want to meet the needs of friendly countries,” he said. Describing Iran-India relations as “very important, old and deep-rooted,” he said the two countries were cooperating in cultural, political and economic areas. He said the Asian continent was among the most important regions of the world and expressed the hope that in the coming days, stronger cooperation will develop among the nations here. At present, he said: “Unfortunately, the cooperation is weak.”
Referring to his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on US sanctions against Iran, Mohammadi said: “They do not agree with the US’ unilateral action and want to strengthen relations with Iran.”
Regarding the 2,600-kilometer pipeline from Iran’s giant South Pars gas field to India, he said the countries had found some agreement following delays.
Discussions on the $7.4 billion project started in 1994 but have been held up by technical and commercial issues.
Mohammadi said the sticking point was over how much New Delhi should pay Pakistan in transit fees.
The countries “agreed that the technical issues should be resolved as soon as possible,” he said. Mohammadi expressed confidence that the pipeline will be functional by 2013, delivering energy to India and Pakistan. On whether US sanctions will affect the project, he replied: “We will make sure that sanctions do not succeed.” He said, “We and our neighbors are doing our best to prevent the influence of any US sanctions.”
Criticizing the United States for preventing other countries from doing business with Iran, he said: “They are trying to victimize others and use suppressive means for their own national good.” But now, in Mohammadi’s opinion, there seems to be a few supporters for the United States. “We feel the mood has changed, which is reflected in Asian countries, Latin America and other areas. The result is that United States’ own approach is proving to be an embarrassment for itself.”
On terrorism, Mohammadi said: “Terrorism has increased since United States’ invasion of Iraq.” Referring to Turkey’s concern about Kurds, he said: “We have asked Turkey to act in a way that does not spread terrorism in the region.”
About the recent developments in Pakistan, Mohammadi said: “We would like to see Pakistan as a strong and stable country. Pakistan’s stability is certainly in the interest of the entire region.”
Defending Iran’s nuclear policy, he said: “Since we are pursuing a peaceful program, we are not worried about IAEA chief’s report. We have not done anything wrong.
“You see, Americans do not abide by the international law. When they attacked Iraq, did they abide by the international law? Who is the right person to talk about Iran’s nuclear program, Mohammed El-Baradei or the United States?” he asked.
Mohammadi was here to attend the 2nd Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, at the invitation of Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
Karnataka Crisis Over
The suspense over the formation of government in Karnataka finally ended yesterday, with the center deciding to revoke the president’s rule in the state. The move paves the way for formation of the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in south India.
The Cabinet took this decision on the basis of the report submitted by Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur earlier in the week.
The BJP would share power with H.D. Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S). The same coalition had collapsed last month when JD-S had refused to transfer power to BJP, leading to the imposition of president’s rule in Karnataka on Oct. 9.
Subsequently, however, rather than facing mid-term polls, the two parties patched up. Besides, the BJP did not want to lose the first opportunity of heading a state government in south India.
Welcoming the development, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said: “All is good that ends good. One learns lessons in coalition politics.” The episode will only strengthen BJP-JD(S) ties, he said.
