TEHRAN, 1 August 2004 — Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said yesterday he was ignoring allegations by Iraq’s defense minister that the Islamic republic was interfering there. “These remarks show the disorganization inside Iraq. We recommend that Iraqi officials define who is the spokesperson of their government,” the minister said in a news conference. “We only pay attention to high-ranking officials in Iraq, and we hope the Iraqis can solve their problems soon,” Kharrazi said.
In remarks published last week by The Washington Post, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Al-Shaalan said he had seen “clear interference in Iraqi issues by Iran,” which he claimed “interferes in order to kill democracy.” He then told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that he hoped Iran understood a message he said was “from the Iraqi people to Iran” and “a solidly secular country supported by the (other) Arab countries.”
Iran has already it rejected Shaalan’s allegations, with an official government spokesman here describing his statements as “contrary to the official message we get from Baghdad”. In his statements to the Post, Shaalan had also accused Iran of taking over some Iraqi border posts and sending spies and saboteurs into Iraq.
He said former fighters in Afghanistan had been helped by Iran to get into Iraq and that Iran was supporting “terrorism and bringing enemies into Iraq”. Iran has consistently denied allegations it has supported anti-US insurgents in Iraq.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a surprise visit to Baghdad on Friday that Iran was seeking influence among Shiite Muslims in the south and warned the Washington viewed this with “disfavor.” “Iran has the potential of playing a helpful role, but we are uneasy about some of the actions Iran has been taking in the south and the influence it is trying to gain in the south,” he said.
Meanwhile, an Iranian court yesterday ordered the release on bail of leading academic dissident Hashem Aghajari, who faced the death penalty for blasphemy for nearly two years before a court commuted his sentence, his lawyer said.
“The court has issued his release order,” Saleh Nikbakht told Reuters. “He is going to be released today.” He said one of Aghajari’s friends had met the bail of 970 million rials ($113,000).
Nikbakht said more than 160 well-wishers, including academics and clerics, had offered to help pay the sum.
The blasphemy charge was finally overturned by the Supreme Court in June after many senior clerics said it was too harsh. In a retrial earlier this month Aghajari, who lost a leg in the 1980-1988 war against Iraq and seemed gaunt and weakened by his confinement, was sentenced to five years in jail.
Aghajari has always protested his innocence and made impassioned speeches from the dock, urging democratic reform in the Islamic Republic.
Two years of Aghajari’s sentence were suspended, leaving one year for him to serve after taking into account the two years he had already spent in detention.
He will be free on bail until the Supreme Court provides a final ruling on how much of this remaining year Aghajari must return to prison to serve.
