DATE:03/31/93
TITLE:IRAN'S SPONSORSHIP OF TERRORISM (03/31/93)
TEXT:*93033101.TXT
IRAN'S SPONSORSHIP OF TERRORISM
(VOA Editorial) (320)
(Following is an editorial, broadcast by the Voice of America March 31,
reflecting the views of the U.S. government.)
Ambassador Thomas McNamara, U.S. Coordinator for Counter-terrorism,
recently warned that of the six nations currently listed as state sponsors
of international terrorism, the most dangerous is Iran. In testimony
before members of the U.S. Congress, McNamara said, "The Iranian regime has
practiced state terrorism since it took power in 1979; it is currently the
deadliest state sponsor and has achieved a worldwide reach." As Ambassador
1cNamara pointed out, it was Islamic Jihad, a front for the
Iranian-sponsored Hizballah terrorist group, that carried out one of the
worst attacks of 1992 -- the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos
Aires, Argentina. That act of terrorism killed 29 people and wounded more
than 240.
There is also a long-established pattern of murders of Iranian dissidents
outside Iran, many of which have been traced directly to agents of the
Tehran government. Iran has even targeted for death one citizen of a
foreign country -- the British author Salman Rushdie. For four years,
Rushdie has been forced to live in hiding. Both the Italian and the
Japanese translator of his novel, "The Satanic Verses," were attacked; the
Italian translator was killed.
The United States is deeply concerned over Iran's continuing use of
international terrorism and the threat to American interests and citizens
from potential terrorist attacks by Hizballah and other groups linked to
Iran. Many of the newly emerging Middle Eastern radical groups supported
by Iran and other state sponsors of international terrorism have adopted
extremist ideologies, which they falsely claim are Islamic. With regard to
Islam, Ambassador McNamara made U.S. policy abundantly clear: "Our problem
is not with Islam," he said. "It is with those who use violence and terror
to advance their political objectives."
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