Iran welcomes international stabilization force in Iraq
Tehran, July 19, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami on Saturday
reiterated Iran's support for UN engagement in Iraq and welcomed plans
to set up an international stabilization force to establish peace
in that country.
"We support the pivotal and guiding role of the United Nations and
the presence of foreign countries in the framework of establishing
peace (in Iraq) and turning over power to the Iraqi people," he told
the visiting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatoly Zlenko here.
Khatami stressed that US-led coalition forces would do good not
only to themselves, but to the Iraqis as well as other regional
nations if they pulled out from Iraq.
The US has indicated its concession to international pressure to
quit going it alone in Iraq -- with American soldiers dying at an
alarming rate at the hands of Iraqi guerrillas -- and bring a
stabilization force project in Iraq under UN mandate.
The idea has gained further momentum because of Washington
suffering a series of setbacks in its requests for military
contributions to a stabilization force, which have been rebuffed by
several nations, including Germany, France and India.
Many of those countries have said they will not participate unless
there is a specific UN mandate for the force.
UN took a back seat and watched on as US and Britain unleash an
invasion in March. The US-led administration unveiled the Iraqi
Governing Council this week to run the country amid rising resentment
of the Iraqi people against the invaders.
Zlenko, whose country has agreed to contribute troops to the
stabilization force, described Iran's role in the region, including
with regard to the Iraq developments, as 'important'.
He asked Iran to share its experience with Kiev in order to enable
Ukraine to carry out its responsibilities in Iraq 'efficiently and
positively'.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi in talks with his
Ukrainian counterpart hoped that the United Nations would manage 'to
prepare practical mechanisms for realizing Iraqi people's demands and
allaying their numerous concerns'.
Reiterating Iran's cautious welcome of the Governing Council in
Iraq, Kharrazi said, "Respecting the demands of the Iraqi people is
key to the formation of a government in Iraq and stability in the
region.
"Tehran believes that the formation of a democratic government
based on public votes and participation of all Iraqis, provided that
it guarantees good neighborly ties and respects Iraq's commitments to
its neighbors, will gradually lead this volatile region to stability,"
he said.
"The formation of government is a complicated process which is not
comparable to the elimination of the former Iraqi regime," Kharrazi
added.
BH/AH/AR
End
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