PHOTO: Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani (right) with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Wednesday
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Syria Daily: An Iran-Russia Plan for International Talks
Western shock-headline media are filled this morning with declarations that Iran’s former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has warned of the US causing “World War III”.
Here’s the real — and far more important — story: Rafsanjani’s statement is part of an Iranian diplomatic offensive trying to establish high-level political talks on the Syrian crisis and to get the US to end support for the rebels trying to overthrow President Assad.
Hosting the Italian Foreign Minister on Wednesday, Rafsanjani blamed Washington and its allies for the rise of “terrorist” groups:
“The US and the NATO had invaded Afghanistan to uproot terrorism and narcotics, but we saw that terrorism expanded in the form of the ISIL [Islamic State], Boko Haram, and Al-Nusra Front to remote parts of the world from Al-Qaeda and Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
He called on the Western countries to “take serious measures to prevent further growth of terrorism in the region because it will backfire on them”.
Rafsanjani’s lines echo statements for months from Iranian officials and media of American responsibility, and even a US-Israeli-Saudi conspiracy, for the creation and rise of Al Qa’eda and now the Islamic State. Those statements have been fuelled by Tehran’s fears of the toppling of Assad and of the advance of the Islamic State in neighboring Iraq.
The distinction this week is that the comments are part of an Iranian campaign. In his meeting with the Italian envoy, President Rouhani asked for a joint effort to fight the enemy: “Terrorism and insecurity is an epidemic disease which doesn’t belong to a special region, and efforts should be made to encounter extremism and violence to prevent its spread. We shouldn’t allow any innocent person, regardless of his/her nationality and religion, to become a victim of the terrorist groups.”
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said “tactless policies” by the US and the allies, especially Israel, “have brought nothing but war, destruction and extremism for the Middle East and around the world”.
In part, the statements are a riposte to Barack Obama — in his televised address on Wednesday promoting the July 14 deal over Iran’s nuclear program, the US President tried to defuse criticism by saying he is still vigilant about Tehran’s support of terrorism.
However, the bigger diplomatic goal is the international meeting on Syria, with the hope of neutering the opposition and preventing President Assad’s downfall. This week Iran, working with Russia, has stepped up the initiative. Iranian officials have met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Tehran, and the Islamic Republic has submitted a four-point “peace plan” to the UN.
See Syria Daily, August 7: An Iran-Russia Plan for International Talks
This real story is unlikely to be mentioned in the Western coverage this morning, largely because of the spin put on Rafsanjani’s remarks by Fars News, the outlet of the Revolutionary Guards. The website headlined, “Iran’s Rafsanjani: Terrorists Posing Threat of New World War”, with the claimed quote: “The threat of the outbreak of the third world war by the terrorists is serious
So Britain’s Daily Mail sets the benchmark for coverage: “‘The Outbreak of World War Three by Terrorists’ is Near, Warns Iranian Official“.
PKK Affiliate Claims Killing of 20 Revolutionary Guards
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) affiliate in Iran claimed on Friday that it killed 20 Revolutionary Guards in an attack on a military outpost in Marivan in the northwest of the country.
The Free and Democratic Society of Eastern Kurdistan (KODAR) said that its armed wing YRK struck on Thursday, following attacks by Iranian forces.
“We previously announced that IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] attacks on YRK guerrillas would lead to war. These assaults are tantamount to the breaking of the ceasefire by the Iranian regime,” the statement said.
Iranian officials denied any casualties, reporting only minor damage.
Last year, PKK’s offshoot organization in Iran, the Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), established KODAR and promoted it as a group for all oppressed and marginalized Iranian populations.
Journalist Pourheydar Given 5-Year Sentence
Journalist Saeed Pourheydar has been sentenced to five years in prison over protests after the disputed 2009 Presidential election.
Pourhedyar was arrested soon after the mass demonstrations and given a five-year suspended sentence in 2010 for “propaganda against the state”, “insulting the President”, and “questioning Islamic principles”.
He left Iran upon his release from prison in December 2010 and returned to the country last January, only to be arrested again upon arrival at the airport. He was charged with “propaganda against the regime, insulting the Supreme Leader, and publishing falsehoods on the Internet”.
The journalist has written for numerous reformist outlets, including the dailies Hambastegi, Mardomsalari, and Sobh-e Emrooz and the website Radio Zamaneh. He also gave interviews to foreign-based media, including BBC Persian, Voice of America, and Radio Farda.
