Iran Media Watch: Denying U.S. Charges

LOS ANGELES, June 10 (UPI) -- As tensions escalate between Iran and the United States, the Iranian media in recent days has reflected the genuine concern and even alarm that these developments have raised among the Iranian public and their national leaders.

Public and government alike have taken the latest U.S. threats seriously and Iranian officials are trying to show that they are prepared to satisfy Washington's demands that they cooperate in cracking down on the al-Qaida terrorist organization.

Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency May 28 reported that Washington had been accusing Iran over the previous two weeks of harboring al-Qaida operatives and had even emphasized its intentions to destabilize the Islamic republic.

"If the United States gives us some clue about al-Qaida, we will follow it up," the daily newspaper Aftab e Yazd quoted Iran's Ambassador to London Morteza Sarmadi as saying in its May 29 issue. The paper reported that Sarmadi had condemned the U.S. government s anti-Iran propaganda and that he had called it a clear interference in another country's internal affairs and against international rules.

In a television interview aired on Britain's Channel 4, Sarmadi refuted U.S. claims that Iran's efforts to encounter al-Qaida had not been enough. "Since the war against the Taliban" -- in Afghanistan -- "Iran has been the country that has surrendered the highest number of al-Qaida members," he said.

The ambassador added that since Iran had long borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, it was really willing to fight against terrorism," Aftab e Yazd reported.

Also on May 29, Aftab e Yazd quoted Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi as also saying that Iran was really serious about arresting and investigating al-Qaeda members.

According to the Iranian Student News Agency, Asefi further said: "It is America that is not serious in the war against al-Qaida and it has not shown any cooperation with the international society. We were the first victims of al-Qaida, and we started the war against them before they even came into existence." He said several members of al-Qaida were already in Iranian jails and their identity would be soon revealed.

Earlier, on May 26, IRNA had quoted Asefi as saying that "the Islamic Republic of Iran has never shown leniency towards members of al-Qaeda.".

On May 29, the newspaper Aftab e Yazd also reported on the detention by U.S. forces in Iraq of three main members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization formerly backed by deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The daily quoted the United Arab Emirates newspaper al-Khalij as reporting that the detention had been carried out after an agreement between Iran and the United States to exchange the leaders of the MKO with al-Qaeda members who had been arrested by Iran.

The Tehran daily Hamshahri reported May 29 on new U.S. economic actions against an Iranian company because of its trade in missiles.

Another Tehran newspaper, Keyhan, reported on May 28 that a meeting of senior U.S. government officials to set new pressures and punishments on Iran had been postponed for several days. The paper quoted Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet as saying, the "dream of changing the regime of Iran is sweet but impossible."

And on May 28, IRNA reported that Iranian Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei had exhorted Iranians to "strengthen their solidarity in the face of American pressures" aimed at destabilizing the country.

While reporting all this massive and mounting U.S. pressure, Iranian newspapers had little news to cheer their readers about other countries supporting Iran. Even Russia, a steadfast ally over the past decade, has been sending cautious and mixed signals to Tehran.

On May 27, IRNA reported from Moscow that Iran's ambassador to Russia, Gholam-Reza Shafei had met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov and that the two sides had discussed bilateral nuclear cooperation. However, on May 29, the daily Entekhab reported new Russian pressures on Iran to allow more international inspections on its nuclear activities.

-- Mojdeh Sionit is a former Iranian journalist now resident in the United States.