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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2008, page 60 Waging Peace AAPG Hears Iran Experts”Dangers of a U.S. War on Iran” was the title of a Nov. 29 program of the Arab American Press Guild. Speakers were Los Angeles physician Dr. Parviz Taherpour, Dr. Morteza Mohit, an internist who hosts a weekly 90-minute program on cable TV, and Soamak Azadi, a Los Angeles civil engineer. Dr. Taherpour predicted that in light of the Bush administration’s overriding interest to control Middle East petroleum, Iran will be attacked for its oil by the U.S. Dr. Mohit, who was imprisoned by the shah from 1974 to ‘79, was released during the revolution only to see Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime execute thousands of leftists and nationalists opposed to a theocracy in Iran. He said the arms deals between Iran, the CIA and the Nicaraguan Contras was evidence of a “treacherous alliance” between Iran, Israel and the U.S. In Dr. Mohit’s opinion, a U.S. attack on Iran is becoming more unlikely because of differing opinions within the Bush administration. Stating that he has no doubt that Iran aided the U.S. in its buildup to Iraq war, Azadi said Tehran facilitated intelligence reports and gave fabricated reports on the existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to the Iraqi dissidents. A coming attack on Iran depends on how strong neocons remain in influencing President Bush, he concluded. —Samir Twair |