Iran Ready To Help.

The FT on Oct. 1 quoted the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, as saying Tehran will help the US stabilise Iraq if Washington set out a timetable for a withdrawal of its troops. He said: "If they [the Americans] have a clear definition of a timetable, we'll help them materialise it".

Larijani said Washington's failures in Iraq should deter the Bush administration from considering any further foreign interventions and warned the US to stay clear of Iran. He said any US attack on Iran would be like Washington "sticking its hand into a beehive". He warned: The US should attack Iran only if it wished "to receive Israel on a wheelchair".

Larijani said Bush should heed the strategy of both the US Democratic Party and the British government on Iraq. He said the Democrats' call for a timetable for withdrawal "seems to be logical". He said the British were "more intelligent than the Americans", having made the "necessary adjustments" to their strategy.

The Iranian security chief reiterated that Tehran was ready to continue co-operating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to defuse a row over its nuclear programme. On Sept. 28 six world powers agreed to delay a vote on tougher UNSC sanctions on Iran until late November, to wait for reports from the IAEA and EU negotiator Javier Solana. The West accuses Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons under the cover of a civil nuclear programme (see news15-IranMayFaceAttackOct8-07).

Iran warmly welcomed Brown's pledge to withdraw British troops, claiming the move represented an attempt to break a US stranglehold on British foreign policy. Interviewed on Iran's state TV an Iranian regional expert identified as Mr Hanizadeh on Oct. 4 said: "There is no doubt that...Brown is trying to reinstate the reputation of the British Labour Party with this move. To this end, Mr Brown is trying to adopt a new policy and [is] distancing himself from the policies of Tony Blair, who had a strong orientation towards America... Given that Mr Brown has suggested...there will be early elections, it is natural that he would...present a new independent British policy, away from any pressure on behalf of the White House".

A recent report in the Daily Telegraph suggesting that President Bush no longer regarded Britain as his closest ally was quoted at length by IRNA. Of particular interest to the Iranian audience were claims, attributed to White House officials, that Brown would not back military action against Iran.

Iran has been steadily increasing its influence with the Shi'ite population of southern Iraq. Tehran's softer tone follows a period of steadily deteriorating Iranian-UK relations, exacerbated by the collapse of the EU troika's attempts to cut a deal over Iran's uranium enrichment. Relations took a turn for the worse in March when Iran briefly held captive 15 British sailors.

The Guardian on Oct. 5 said "Iran's apparent hopes of a shift in UK policy may arise from wishful thinking". The paper quoted a UK Foreign Office official as saying: "I think you're going to have to wait about 18 months. We're waiting for [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadi-Nejad to lose the presidential election [due by June 2009]... And we're waiting for Bush to finish his term [in January 2009]. Then we might be able to do something".