Hours after the callous missile barrage that left dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians dead or wounded, in his speech on Army Day, Khatami praised the unpatriotic war with Iraq and lashed out at the Mojahedin, becoming the first among the clerical regime's leaders to state support for this act of aggression.
This week, Khatami's faction threw its full support behind the missile attack stressing that Khatami's policies had prepared the political and international basis for the attack.
Commenting on the use of weapons of mass destruction against the Mojahedin, a pro-Khatami daily wrote: "The taking hold of political development pulled the trigger of the missiles." It added: "One of the biggest and rare successes of the state, which is due to Khatami's foreign policy, was a dramatic decline in negative stances of governments and international forums vis-ˆ-vis this action by Iran. Obviously, Tehran will not pay a negative and political price for this act" (Aftab-e Yazd, April 21,2001).
Another pro-Khatami daily wrote: "This decisive move by the Government of Islamic Republic [of Iran]... foretells of a determination to strengthen the state's might and national security" (Hayat-e No, April 21, 2001).
The use of proscribed weapons of mass destruction against innocent civilians is a brazen breach of Security Council resolution 598. It reaffirms that despite Khatami's demagogic rhetoric about dŽtente and good neighborliness, the Iranian regime is the most dangerous threat to peace, stability and tranquillity in this part of the world and that whenever it would find it expedient, it would not hesitate to use weapons of mass destruction against its neighbors.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 25, 2001
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