Monday, March 06, 2006
The war on Iran
Details on alleged US intrusion into Iran
[The Iranians] cite [as evidence of bad faith] a US decision to spend $75m (£43m) on funding potential Iranian opposition forces, including NGOs, trade unions and human rights groups, and local language propaganda broadcasts - tactics pioneered in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine. Iran accuses the US of stirring discontent among its Kurdish, Baluch and Azeri minorities, suspicions fed by a US marine corps investigation to gauge the strength of opposition to the central government among non-Persian groups. Tehran also believes the US is using the People's Mujahideen, an anti-regime group once backed by Saddam and blamed for many terrorist attacks, for intelligence-gathering and destabilisation.It recently demanded British troops quit Basra after linking them to unrest among Arab Iranians in Khuzestan, abutting south-east Iraq.
And
an interesting bit of byplay, via Juan Cole (the original confuses Iraq and Iran as the source of funds):
Ira[n] has agreed to invest $1 billion to rehabilitate the country’s [Iraq's] industrial sector, said Industry and Minerals Minister Abdulaziz al-Najafi in a statement.
The statement, obtained by Azzaman, said the money from Tehran will be invested in several industrial projects and Iraqi entrepreneurs were welcome to make use of it....
The Iranians would like to start up a new car company in Iraq as well as factories for the manufacture of electrical transformers and appliances, steel and glass.
# posted by
Charles @ 3/06/2006 09:30:00 PM
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