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American Morning

Interview of Kamal Kharrazi, Iranian Foreign Minister

Aired February 11, 2002 - 09:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning: Iran's criticism of American policy spills into the streets. Tens of thousands of demonstrators screamed "down with the U.S." Iran's President Mohammad Khatami spoke out against President Bush's reference to Iran as part of the axis of evil, saying Iran would not "allow any country to insult our nation with hostile and baseless accusations."

We are joined now by Iran's foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi, who joins us from Istanbul, where he is attending a conference aimed at bridging the gap between the Muslim world and the West.

Welcome sir, thank you for joining us this morning. What do you think is the message those demonstrators are sending to the U.S.?

KAMAL KHARRAZI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: That is the message that Iranians are united, supporting the government, and certainly reject the unilateral approach by President Bush. I believe this is not only Iranian for taking this position, but everyone has been woeful (ph), the states have to represent Bush's address (ph), but everyone has rejected this, especially European countries.

ZAHN: These demonstrations come at a time where the United States has accused Iran of harboring al Qaeda members and Taliban members.

KHARRAZI: You know that Iran has been against Taliban, against al Qaeda before Americans did anything to those people. And this is illogical for Iran to give safe haven to these people. We've been controlling our borders, but naturally, we have a long border. If there's any information that any al Qaeda member is in Iran, that should be given to us to follow those people.

ZAHN: The United States says it has substantial evidence to convince them that that border is more porous, and those people have made it into Iran. Are you denying that any of these Taliban leaders and al Qaeda leaders have made it into Iran?

KHARRAZI: There has been no Taliban leader or al Qaeda member so far in Iran, but if there is any evidence, any information, about the presence in Iran, that should be transferred to us to be followed. In fact, there are many detainees in Iran because a lot of smugglers who cross the border, and we have to check those people. There may be Arabs, there may be others, but so far there has not been any al Qaeda member among those people. ZAHN: So essentially, what you are telling us this morning is you think the United States government is lying, when it says Taliban leaders and al Qaeda members have made to Iran?

KHARRAZI: ...looking for excuses, because they have their own agenda of unilateral approach in the world (ph), something that is not supported by others, and these are excuses. Nobody agrees that Iran is going to kill the baby which has been produced in Kabul, a central government. We have been supporting the central government in Kabul, and we are continue to support them. There are a lot of differences among the governors in Afghanistan, and we should not be trapped by the differences. Therefore, there's substance (ph) to these allegations, and this has just been an excuse for Americans to follow their cause.

ZAHN: A CIA report issued two weeks ago now says that Iran remains one of the most active countries in trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and U.S. officials say that Iran may just be a few years away from developing nuclear weapons. Do you deny this?

KHARRAZI: This is not something new. There have been always making these accusations, that we are under safeguard of international agency (UNINTELLIGIBLE) organization, and there have been frequent visits to Iran, everything is transferred (ph). We do not follow the development of nuclear weapons, but we are trying to have technology for peaceful purposes. We have been promoting Middle East (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ZAHN: Mr. Kharrazi, I know you said these allegations aren't new, but I missed part of that response. Are you saying they are not true?

KHARRAZI: It's not true, certainly is not true. But it is just for an excuse to put pressure on Iran. It is Israel which is the source of threat in the region, which has access to nuclear weapons and has many nuclear weapons, it's the source of terror (ph), not only for Iran, but for all countries in that region. And instead of making accusations, there should be pressure on Israel to join (UNINTELLIGIBLE) between other conventions.

ZAHN: What about those weapons that were shipped to Israel, that investigators have confirmed came from Iran?

KHARRAZI: Who is those investigators? There has been some allegations by Americans, Israelis, but there has not been substantiated. Actually, there is no foundation for that allegation, and different officials in the government of Iran have declared that have nothing to do with this ship. That is just a fabricated story by Israelis, if there is any document that should be delivered, and should be shared by us, to follow the matter, but there is no substance to this story.

ZAHN: Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi. We thank you for your time this morning. I appreciate your joining "American Morning," and we need to make it clear as we leave Mr. Kharrazi, the Israeli government is not only claiming that to be true, but the U.S. government as well.

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