[In a message to his Yemeni counterpart Ali Abdollah Saleh, the Iraqi strongman admitted indirectly that Iraq used to have weapons of mass destruction (WMD), adding however that all Iraqi factories producing such weapons have been destroyed, adding that he has accepted the return of UN weapons inspectors in order to deprive Washington any pretext for attacking his country].

On his arrival for a two-day official visit aimed at seeking Iran’s support against ongoing joint American-British plans to boot out President Saddam Hoseyn from power in Baghdad, Sabri said he was carrying a message from his boss for the Iranian President, Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, but refused to disclose the content of the message.

Reporting from the first meeting between the two foreign affairs ministers, Iranian official news agency IRNA said Kharrazi told Sabri that Iraq should readmit U.N. weapons inspectors to avoid a war with the United States and warned that the region could not tolerate another devastating war and instability.

Sabri landed in Tehran as the US President once again reiterated on the "danger" Iraq represented for both the region and the world’s peace and stability, stressing that it was "imperative" that the Iraqi dictator be disarmed from the deadly weapons he has in his possession.

"Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister underlined the need to prevent any conflict in the region, adding that a prudent decision should be taken to prevent igniting hostilities in a region which has witnessed much devastation", IRNA quoted Mr. Kharrazi as having told his Iraqi counterpart, stressing that part of the problem can be solved by Iraq through admitting UN inspectors and preventing the US from implementing its hostile policy.

"The region cannot tolerate any other war and igniting any conflict could lead to instability and insecurity of the whole region", the Iranian Minister pointed out.

Both ministers said that in their talks, they would review Tehran-Baghdad relations and issues pertaining to the eight years of "sacred defence", -- a jargon used by the Iranian officials referring to the devastating and murderous war Mr. Hoseyn declared on the new Iranian regime when he attacked Iran on September 1980, assuring that he would parade on Tehran avenues in "one week or two".

In response to the question about the "simultaneous" visit of the Kuwaiti Defence Minister Sheykh Jaber Mobarak Al Sabah and the Iraqi Minster to Tehran, Mr. Kharrazi said the visits are "completely a coincidence" and are not linked to each other.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is also scheduled to visit the Iranian Capital next month as part of a tour to some Persian Gulf sheykhdoms.

"In the absence of any direct contact, the Americans will be looking to Straw to gauge how Iran may respond to military operations in Iraq. And the Iranians will be hoping to clarify where they fit in Bush's agenda", the French news agency Agence France Presse quoted a Western diplomat in Tehran as having pointed out.

Straw last visited Iran in September and November 2001, just before the US-led attack on neighbouring Afghanistan.

The visits herald acceleration in Iranian efforts to forestall US plans to attack old arch-foe Iraq, amid "conviction", mostly among the ruling conservative clerics, that Washington's plan of "regime change" in Baghdad is part of a greater design that would include the present Iranian theocracy as well.

"At best, Sabri will try to win Iran's support. He would at least seek promises from Iran to remain neutral. As for Straw, he is expected to convey a message from the Americans for Iranian officials encouraging Iran to support U.S. military action against Saddam", Tehran newspapers quoted Iranian political analysts.

Iran holds Saddam responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of its soldiers and civilians in the devastating 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, when Saddam used poison gas on Iranian troops.

"The overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hoseyn, through whatever means, will be the happiest day for all the Iranian people", the younger Khatami, who is the General Secretary of Islamic Iran Participation Party, said in the interview to "Al-Rai Al-Aam".

"I personally, like every Iranian citizen, consider Saddam Hosey to be an opportunist who respects no convention or treaty ... with no moral values, and in whom we have no trust", he further added, adding, however, that: "If Saddam is a criminal, the biggest criminal is the superpower which provided him with all the weapons of mass destruction and the technology for these prohibited arms".

"The reformists inside the present Iranian system have a very bad record. Their opposition to conservative’s policy concerning Iraq is both a ploy to buy some legitimacy from the people who have abandoned them and also because this unpopular policy places their conservative opponent in a difficult situation", explained Dr. Qasem Sho’leh Sa’di, a former Member of the Majles.

"Saddam is a threat for a durable peace in the region. Iran would not shed any tears if Saddam were gone. It will be the happiest day for all Iranians to see Saddam toppled, no matter by who. Tehran may even decide to cooperate with the U.S. if it receives assurances that its interests would be respected", Mr. Ali Akbar Dareini of the American news agency Associated Press (AP) quoted Mr. Golbaz as having said.

"While Iran must continue opposing any American unilateral military action against Iraq in the one hand, on the other, Iran must profit from the occasion pushing for its (war) claims (from Iraq)", the pro-reform "Aftab Yazd" suggested, referring to the damages Iraq has adamantly refused to pay Iran, estimated at more than 100 billions US Dollars by the Iranians.

Furthermore, Iran has already accused Washington -- which now has military bases virtually surrounding the Islamic Republic -- of using Afghanistan as an anti-Iran launch pad.

Political analyst and university professor Davoud Hermidas Bavand said Iran's national interests require it to support Saddam's removal.

"Iranians know Saddam better than others. He cannot be trusted. Iran's national interests require supporting toppling Saddam privately, if not publicly," Bavand to AP.

"Considering Iran's influence over main Iraqi opposition groups, including the Shi’ites and the Kurds, the United States needed to court Iran to win its backing for military action against Iraq", Iranian analysts suggested.