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| Axis of Evil |
| Iran masses troops on Iraqi border... |
| 2002-08-25 |
| Iran is amassing troops on its border with Iraq in case of a US invasion to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "Iranian troops have returned to the positions they held during the (1980-1988) Iran-Iraq war," said the Revolutionary Union of Kurdistan chief Hussein Yazdanpana, who lives in the eastern city of Arbil. In recent days, Iranian troops, including the elite Revolutionary Guard, "have been deployed... along the 2,000 kilometre (1,200 mile) border," he said. Iran has also closed its border crossing to the northern Iraqi Kurdish enclave, which is protected from Saddam by US and British air patrols. "The Iranian army is waiting for the United States to conduct a war against Iraq so it can interfere in the affairs of the Kurdish region and the rest of the country," he said. Nightmare scenario here: The U.S. mounts an invasion of Iraq and Iran takes that as its opportunity to invade the Kurdish-held areas. I can't see a scenario where the Iranians would come in on the Iraqi side — there's not even irrational self-interest there — but I can see them jumping in and trying to grab off a big piece of Kurdistan for themselves, putting us between the rock of extending the war to them, and the hard place of acquiescing... Yazdanpana pleaded for Washington "to ensure the protection of Kurds in Iraq and Iran in case of a military strike on Iraq." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |