Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday criticized US "interference" in Iraq and said most of the world opposed Washington's policies, in a speech on the anniversary of Iran's 1979 revolution.
"A war in Iraq would be a source of insecurity in the region," he said in an address to tens of thousands of people assembled in Tehran's Azadi Square.
A US-led war on Baghdad would form part of "US policies of interference in the affairs of all countries. All the world is hostile to such policies today," Khatami said.
Such policies pose an "enormous threat to us, and to all countries concerned about their independence."
"If we are opposed to an attack on Iraq, it is not because we support the Iraqi regime," said the president, "we are opposed because it is firstly the Iraqi people who will suffer."
According to AFP, Khatami also warned the United States against attempting to interfere in Iran's domestic affairs.
"I hope the United States will not once again make an attempt against us by supporting the remains of the former regime" of the shah, who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution, he said.
"They already suffered a bitter defeat when they were supporting the shah."
"Let the United States know that our people, to defend their independence and religious democracy, are armed with unlimited determination and that any intervention will confront their anger." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
