IRAN WILL SOON PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN WORLD POLITICS
By Behzad Zolnour
PARIS 25 Sept. (IPS) "Iran seriously is avoiding terrorism and this is a very positive development for the international fight against terrorism", Mrs. Nicole Fontaine, the Speaker of the Strasbourg-based European Parliament said Tuesday.
Answering questions from Iran Press Service at the end of a ceremony aimed at introducing the new European currency Euro, Mrs. Fontaine said she believed that Europeans were "keen" to see Iran play his role by participating in the plans drawn by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) (against Afghanistan).
But Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i, while condemning terrorism, has ruled any Iranian participation at an international force for invading Afghanistan if led by the United States.
Asked how she does evaluate the Iranian co-operation with international effort to eradicate international terrorism, Mrs. Fontaine reminded that the European Union was engaged in "extensive discussions" with Tehran.
"Iran of President Mohammad Khatami is very different from the past and this itself is a good reason to believe that Iran might join such an international struggle and on the other hand, there are signs that Washington is also gearing to change its policy towards Iran", she added.
According to informed source, President George W. Bush is considering to ask the Congress the scrap economic sanctions imposed on Iran, IPS has learned.
The measures, known as ILSA, or the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act had been re-conducted just a month ago by the Congress for another five years.
Though she said to be "assured" of the Iranian President’s "peaceful policy" based on the dialogue between civilizations, but she added that she had "doubts" about Mr. Khatami’s entourage as well as in other ruling wings in the Iranian regime.
"Iranians are a great people with an ancient civilization and I’m certain that this country, located strategically, would soon play an instrumental role in international scenes", Mrs. Fontaine concluded. ENDS FONTAINE IRAN US EXPLOSIONS 25901