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Iranian support for terrorism continues (Serial 4305)
The Islamic Republic has not carried out any acts of terrorism onEuropean soil since President Khatami took office in August 1997, butits record elsewhere has not changed a great deal.
In his CNN Jan. 7 interview - and in all previous and subsequentspeeches - President Khatami has claimed as legitimate Iran's supportfor the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which the U.S. and most Westernstates consider a terrorist organization. He also proudly claimedIranian support for the Palestinian struggle, although in January hetried to differentiate between attacks against civilians (which hecondemned), and "legitimate acts of resistance" (which hesupported).
• On Sept. 1, 1997, Khatami called Israel "the greatestmanifestation of international terrorism," while reaffirming Iran'ssupport to Hezbollah, which he called the Lebanese "resistance"movement. "We see resistance against aggressors as the right of allfree nations in the world. Within the framework of revolutionary andIslamic values, the Islamic Republic will defend the right of thesenations."
• Also in September, dozens of Jamaa Islamiya activists weresaid to be training at Hezbollah camps in the Bekaa and in southernLebanon, according to Egyptian press accounts. Egypt reportedlypresented a confidential note to the Lebanese government asking thatthey be extradited.
• On Oct. 11, Iran reiterated its "full support" forHezbollah following a meeting between Iranian Deputy Foreign MinisterMohammed Sadder and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, whocame to Tehran heading a large delegation. On Oct. 12, Nasrallah metwith Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi. Nasrallah also met withKhatami, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene'i, former presidentRafsanjani, and the commander of the IRGC, Yehya Safavi. Nasrallahmet again with Kharrazi in Damascus in November, IRNA reported.
• An Egyptian newspaper, Al-Arabi, reported that a seniorIranian official met with representatives of Jamaa Islamiya,including Mustafa Hamzah, a prime suspect in the failed 1995assassination attempt against President Mubarak in Addis Ababa.
• In November, IRNA reported that Mohsen Rezai, nowRafsanjani's deputy at the Expediency Council, received delegationsin Tehran from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
• In November and December, Israel intercepted two Hezbollahsuicide bombers attempting to cross the border into Israel fromLebanon, including a German-origin Hezbollah activist, Stefan Smirak.
• Also since Mr. Khatami took office, Iran's CulturalAttaché in Buenos Aires has reportedly been asked to leave thecountry because of his possible connection to the 1992 bombing of theIsraeli embassy and the 1994 bombing of AMIA, the Jewish CulturalCenter in Buenos Aires.
• On Dec. 8, the opposition Kurdish Democratic Party of Iranclaimed that "Iranian agents" killed five KDPI party activists inarmed clashes inside Iraqi Kurdistan, repeating a pattern that led toscores of deaths in 1996.
• In January 1998, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister MohammedSadr reportedly met with Hezbollah officials in Lebanon, according toAl Sharq al Awsat.
While contacts such as these are to be expected, given the IslamicRepublic's long-standing ties to Hezbollah and to other radicalIslamic groups, Khatami has gone out of his way to warmly welcomeHezbollah leaders to Tehran, and has repeatedly insisted that Iraniansupport to the group would continue.