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Iran threat "exaggerated"

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: A leading British think-tank has said America is falsely accusing Iran of stoking violence in Iraq as a pretext for a military intervention in what is seen as a replay of the American-British campaign against Saddam Hussein in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.

In a report, the British American Security Information Council (Basic) has pointed out that there is no hard evidence to link Iran with Iraqi militancy.

"Whatever the true nature of Iranian military action in Iraq, few independent analysts believe Tehran is playing a decisive role in the sectarian warfare and insurgency.''

The report, highlighted by Independent newspaper, said Iran's close relations with Shia Iraqis were "legitimate acts of foreign relations and cross-border movements of people'', and it was dangerous to portray it as Iranian involvement in the Iraqi militants' violent campaign against American and British forces.

It said the Bush administration's efforts to highlight the "threat'' from Iran could be part of a strategy to find a "scapegoat'' for its own failure to control the growing cycle of violence in Iraq.

"If Tehran can be cast as a source of regional instability in the eyes of the international community, then the US administration's hand will be strengthened as it seeks support for stronger measures to oppose Iranian nuclear ambitions,'' the report said.

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