IRAN: Iran has indicated that it will be neutral if the US attacks Iraq, following the precedent it set during the 1991 Gulf war.
"We are against a war, but we will not oppose it by force," Iran's Defence Minister, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, said yesterday.
He said Iran would not take part in operations against Baghdad even if the Security Council authorised the use of force to disarm Iraq.
The admiral said: "At the same time, we will not seek to profit from the situation Iraq finds itself in, and we will also not co-operate with Iraq. We call on Iraq to implement all \ resolutions."
Last week he attempted to reassure Baghdad by saying that Tehran would respect the existing borders between Iran and Iraq.
Yesterday's statement was intended to inform Washington that Tehran would not be drawn into a war on Iraq's side.
Iran has consistently called upon Iraq to implement UN resolutions. Its view is that Israel cannot be expected to do so unless Iraq meets its obligations.
The minister said his troops were ready to defend the country if the Bush administration, which has included Iran with Iraq and North Korea in an "axis of evil", were to attack Iran.
"If there is an attack against Iran, the Iranian armed forces are ready to face any consequences, whether along the border or in the interior of our country."
Admiral Shamkhani was speaking at a joint press conference with the Kuwaiti Defence Minister, Shaikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah on Sunday.
Shaikh Jaber denied that US troops were in the emirate to prepare for an attack on Iraq. He restated Kuwait's position that any measures against Iraq should be "carried out within an international framework" rather than unilateral, and said that the emirate could not be used as a launch pad unless there is an international consensus to take action against Iraq.
He said US troops were in Kuwait temporarily to upgrade the capacity of its forces. "We organise joint manoeuvres with friendly countries regularly. These forces come to Kuwait and leave once the manoeuvres are finished."
The admiral reiterated Iran's longstanding criticism of the presence of foreign forces in the Gulf, which Tehran regards as "an element of instability in the region".
Iran's Foreign Minister, Mr Kamal Kharazzi, said he hoped that the present US-Iraq confrontation would be "resolved peacefully".
