Cracking the 'axis of evil': Iran vs. the 'great satan': in the war on terrorism, the Iranian regime is a continuing threat to the U.S.—one that can't be ignored

VFW Magazine, Nov, 2002 by Janie Blankenship

It's been more than a year since President Bush issued a warning to governments harboring or sponsoring terrorists. Yet one of the biggest threats in the U.S.-led war on Islamist terrorism remains undaunted. It's no big secret that Iran exports weapons of mass destruction and sponsors terrorist organizations.

"We have to recognize that terrorist networks have relationships with terrorist states that have weapons of mass destruction," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. "They are going to get their hands on them and they would not hesitate one minute in using them."

Iran reportedly has tested new Shahab-3 missiles (derived from North Korea's No-dong missile) that can reach some 800 miles, with the potential to wreak havoc in the Middle East.

And in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U.S. airmen, Iran was fingered as a key terrorist sponsor. Specifically, Ahmad Sheriff, a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, was one of those responsible.

Furthermore, analysts say it's likely Iran will take control of what's left of the al Qaeda network--an act reminiscent of when Yasser Arafat's Fatah was driven from Beirut into the open arms of Iran's religious fanatics in 1982.

In addition, Iran hosted 167 top leaders of 25 terrorist organizations in Tehran for a terror summit in June 2002. Among the leaders were seven representatives from al Qaeda.

"They are permitting al Qaeda to be present in their country today," Rumsfeld said. "They may have turned some terrorists over to other countries, but not to us."

In fact, Iran offered sanctuary to al Qaeda members when they were handed back to their countries of origin.

On Aug. 28, President Bush called on Iran to stop providing shelter to terrorists, a call ignored as of yet. Reportedly, two senior al Qaeda operatives are being sheltered in guesthouses in the Iranian cities of Mashhad and Zabol, near the Afghanistan border.

"The behavior of the Iranian government is unacceptable when it comes to support for terrorism," said Scott McClellan, White House spokesman.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Rezi Asefi denies U.S. allegations of harboring terrorists: "It is ugly that some American circles make accusations without any evidence." Though U.S. officials aren't saying what that evidence is, it clearly exists.

Green Berets have set up camp in Afghanistan just three miles from the Iranian border. Surrounded by a mass of barricades that serve as protection from suicide bombers, the American soldiers' mission is to hunt down al Qaeda along the border. Following Bush's inclusion of Iran as part of the "axis of evil," this new base is seen as an affront by Iranian religious hard-liners, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

Afghan officials in Zaranj, however, welcome the U.S. presence on the border, saying one or two Iranian spies a day are arrested and expelled.

In a briefing with Baluchi and Pashtun tribal officials and military leaders, the commander of the U.S. unit put to rest any Afghan apprehension. "We are here to fight and hunt the enemies of the world and Afghanistan," he said.

Dressed in civilian clothes, Special Forces troops pursue their prey as they conspire nearby.

"We have believed that al Qaeda was basing out of Iran for some time, and these new U.S. military operations are aimed at cutting off their movements," a Western diplomat told the Christian Science Monitor.

Whether or not this mission will extend into Iran, no one is saying. Called the "great Satan" by Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the U.S. knows enough to justify serious action against the Tehran regime in the name of self-defense.

Chanting "death to America" and sponsoring terror summits, Iran continues to issue veiled threats to America. Former deputy assistant secretary of defense James Noye said it best: "The real power is still in the hands of the bad guys."