Iran Feels Hemmed In by Tough U.S. Rhetoric
TEHRAN — Amir Mohebian is a bespectacled Islamic editor fond of analogies, such as this one concerning relations between the United States and Iran: "We will not grow closer anytime soon. The U.S. is the wolf; Iran is the lamb. Why would the lamb invite the wolf in to eat him?"
Iran's political class reverberates with intrigue and dark fables over the country's long- estranged relationship with Washington. The specter of a U.S.-led war against neighboring Iraq, American support of Israel and Iran's move to expand its nuclear program have worsened an atmosphere that was badly damaged a year ago when President Bush counted this nation as part of an "axis of evil."
That remark stunned the ruling elite here as suspicions mounted that the U.S., with military forces spread throughout Afghanistan to Iran's east and the Persian Gulf to the west, was out to topple unfriendly regimes and control the flow of Middle East oil. As thousands more American troops head for the Gulf region, Iran feels isolated by a U.S. administration whose rhetoric Muslims believe is as harsh and threatening to them as the anti-Western furor whipped up by fundamentalist Islamic clerics is to Americans.
"Will the U.S. turn its guns on us after Iraq? Maybe not, but everything is possible," said Mohebian, editor of Resalat, an influential newspaper among conservative clerics controlling much of the government. "The U.S.'s unilateralism cannot be accepted. This is a new century and we must negotiate with one another for a new world. But the U.S. wants to be the uni-power."
"I don't see any positive signs between President Bush and Iran's clerics," said Davoud Bavand, a member of Iran's mission at the United Nations in the 1970s. "After the removal of [Iraqi President Saddam] Hussein, it will improve things for Iran. But what will develop in Baghdad? A religious government? A military government? The shadow of American military might will raise interesting questions for us.
"The U.S. won't invoke armed action against Iran, but it will exert other pressures for change," he added. "It's really a psychological war."
Iran's newspapers are full of stories concerning "plots" and "enemy spies" manipulated by Western intelligence agencies. Many conservatives believe that once American forces enter Baghdad, they will be entrenched in the region and orchestrate the fall of the Iranian government. Economists here fear that U.S. control of Iraq -- even for a short time -- would push down oil prices and create chaos in this nation's oil-dependent economy, which is already battered by high unemployment and sluggish growth.
