IRAN/SYRIA: Iran and Syria, both locked in disputes with the United States, yesterday pledged to form a common front to face challenges and threats.
"We are ready to help Syria on all grounds to confront threats," Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref said in Tehran after meeting Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari.
Mr Otari told reporters: "This meeting, which takes place at this sensitive time, is important, especially because Syria and Iran face several challenges and it is necessary to build a common front."
But Syria's ambassador to the United States, asked by CNN what the common front with Iran entailed, said it was not an anti-American alliance and said Syria was trying to improve its relations with Washington.
"Today we do not want to form a front against anybody, particularly not against the United States," Imad Moustapha said. "Syria is trying to engage constructively with the US ... We are not the enemies of the US and we do not want to be drawn into such an enmity," he added.
Washington recalled its ambassador to Syria for urgent consultations on Tuesday to show its deep displeasure with Damascus after Monday's killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri.
US officials said they were considering imposing new sanctions on Syria because of its refusal to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon and the US belief that Syria lets Palestinian militants and Iraqi insurgents operate on its soil. While acknowledging they do not know who was to blame for Hariri's car bomb assassination, US officials argued Syria's military presence and its political power-broking role were generally responsible for Lebanon's instability.
More than 200,000 people took to Beirut's streets yesterday in a demonstration of mourning for Mr Hariri and an expression of hostility to Syria, whom they accuse of being behind his assassination. In an unprecedented outpouring of grief and anger, mourners shouted Syria - Out!
The country's pro-Syrian president stayed away - warned not to come by Hariri supporters who blame Damascus for his death.
The assassination "angered the international community, and this requires that we shed the light on this heinous, indescribable act," said French President Jacques Chirac, a friend of Hariri's who flew to Beirut to offer condolences.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television sent ripples through world financial markets yesterday after it reported a powerful explosion near the town of Dailam, about 160 km from the oil state's only nuclear power plant.
The Al-Alam satellite channel, which broadcasts in Arabic, quoted witnesses as saying the explosion could have been caused by an aircraft firing a missile in a deserted area near Dailam or by a fuel tank falling from a plane.
The report caused the US stock market to drop briefly and sent oil prices higher, underscoring worries over Iran's nuclear programme, which Washington says conceals an effort to build an atomic bomb.
Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said yesterday the Islamic Republic was six months away from having the knowledge it needed to produce an atomic bomb.