Washington's Dubious Allies

The USA is funding underground activities in Iran with a view to toppling the regime in Teheran. In doing so, it is supporting groups that Washington would normally classify as Islamist and terrorist. Peter Philipp reports

George Bush (photo: AP)
It's a gepolitical Groundhog Day: The US are supporting militant Islamist groups on foreign territory - again

​​George W. Bush would appear to be using the last few months of his presidency to tie up a few loose ends. It even seems that he is willing to dissolve the "axis of evil" that served him so long as the image of evil incarnate. Washington has officially removed North Korea from the "axis" for its conciliatory and acquiescent behaviour on the issue of its nuclear programme. The White House has also accepted that Israel has been indirectly negotiating a peace deal with Damascus - and will soon begin doing so directly. If the outcome of these negotiations is positive, Syria could be the next to be removed from the "axis of evil."

This would leave Iran as the only remaining member of the axis, effectively putting an end to its existence. In this case, however, there is little hope that the USA will change its tune regarding Iran's stigma of "evil". On the contrary, the White House seems determined to adopt an even more resolute stance on Iran. As President Bush repeatedly emphasised during his farewell tour of Europe, all options are open.

A secret "Presidential Finding"

Anyone who thinks that this means launching direct attacks on Iran is mistaken. Bush is thinking more of underground operations in Iran itself. In late 2007, he managed to get Congress to agree to fund underground activities in Iran to the tune of $400 million, the details of which, according to reports in the New Yorker, are outlined in a secret "Presidential Finding." In his article, the renowned New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh details how Bush is using secret service activities and Iranian accomplices in Iran to destabilise the regime.

Barack Obama (photo: AP)
Barack Obama is in favour of negotiations with Iran, but the Democratic Party supports the president's policy

​​Some of the plans have been known for some time; what is new, however, is the fact that Congress, which is dominated by the Democrats, has agreed to increase funding for it. After all, the Democratic candidate for the White House, Barack Obama, has spoken out in favour of diplomacy and negotiations with Iran. It is not known exactly how this money is being spent, leading to fears of abuse. However, in cases such as this, no records are kept and no-one is obliged to render account to the public.

A new Taliban …

One thing is, however, certain: Washington has increased its support for ethnic minorities in Iran, including the Balochs in the border region with Pakistan and Afghanistan. A series of explosions and armed incidents in southern Iran is probably the result of this co-operation.

American experts are of course warning that co-operation with the armed Balochs - and in particular with the Jund Allah (soldiers of God) movement - is precariously similar to Washington's erstwhile support for the Taliban in Afghanistan via Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Jund Allah is a small, yet extremely militant Sunni group whose ideology is remarkable similar to that of the Taliban and al-Qaida and is characterised by an extreme propensity to violence.

… and old acquaintances

The US has also been supporting militant groups in the north of Iran for quite some time - groups that Washington would normally classify as being terrorist groups. It is reported, for example, that the PJAK - the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan, the Iranian branch of the PKK, which is otherwise active in Turkey - has been receiving supplies and training from Washington for years and has recently been intensifying its attacks on Iranian border guards and state institutions in the north of the country.

Site of the Zahedan bombing in 2007 (photo: AP)
While Jundallah - a militant Sunni Islamic organization - claimed responsibility for the 2007 Zahedan bombings, the Iranian government has accused the governments of Pakistan and the US of complicity

​​The Mujahidin Khalk Organisation (MKO) also receives support from Washington. Although the US State Department considers the "People's Mujahidin" to be a terrorist organisation, it was this group that provided Washington with decisive information about Iran's nuclear projects several years ago. When Saddam Hussein was still in power, the MKO had units in Iraq. These units have since been disarmed and put under the control of the US forces. However, a final decision has yet to be taken about their future.

Iraq as a possible basis for operations

While the USA would undoubtedly like to use these people as agents in this fight against Teheran, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, recently gave assurances to Teheran that he wants to sever all contact between the MKO and foreigners. He has no interest in allowing his country to become a base for anti-Iranian operations.

For its part, it is unlikely that the USA is willing to let its troops in Iraq become a target for either direct or indirect Iranian attacks. This is why military circles in the USA are warning that America should not step up its underground activities in Iran. Defence Minister Robert Gates is said to be one of the most prominent opponents of this approach.

Militarily ineffective

Other experts warn that these generously funded activities will never achieve what they have set out to do, namely to topple the regime in Teheran. Not only are the policies and ideologies of the groups supported by Washington more than dubious, they also represent tiny minorities in Iran that are too small to bring about a regime change.

On the contrary, terrorist attacks and other forms of violence perpetrated by these groups would only weld the people of Iran even closer together in their rejection of these groups and, in particular, of the USA, something that would in fact strengthen the regime in Teheran.

Peter Philipp

© Deutsche Welle / Qantara.de 2008

Peter Philipp is Deutsche Welle's chief correspondent and an expert on the Middle East.

Translated from the German by Aingeal Flanagan

Qantara.de

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