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By Peijean Tsai
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA students heard an Iranian reaction to President
Bush’s statement labeling Iran as part of an “˜axis of
evil.’
The seminar “Iran and Bush’s Axis of Evil: What does
it mean for the Middle East?” was sponsored by the Burkle
Center for International Relations Thursday and was a response to
Bush’s comment that Iran, Iraq and North Korea
“constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of
the world” during his State of the Union Address in
January.
During the speech Bush said, “Iran aggressively pursues
(weapons of mass destruction) and exports terror, while an
unelected few repress the Iranian people’s hope for
freedom.”
Jalil Roshandel, a visiting political science professor at UCLA
from Tehran University, thought the comment to be too harsh.
“The reward that Iran got for helping out was to be
labeled a part of Bush’s axis of evil,” said Roshandel,
referring to Iran’s support for the United States following
the Sept. 11 attacks.
Roshandel said Bush’s claim that Iran is producing weapons
of mass destruction was illogical.
Weapons are being made in Iran, but they will not be available
for use for at least another 15 years, Roshandel said, adding that
the completion of the weapons is unlikely.
Roshandel also said Iran should not be placed in the same
category alongside Iraq, citing that while Iraq did not support the
United States following the Sept. 11 attacks, Iran was deeply
regretful and said the attacks were against all humanity.
Also, Iran should not be linked with Iraq, as Iran has never
supported Saddam Hussein, Roshandel said.
The Bush Administration’s claim that Iran had hosted
al-Qaeda members to flee Afghanistan was also false, Roshandel
said, and in reality, Iran has never helped the Taliban regime.
“The Taliban version of Islam has always been an enemy to
the Iranian version of Islam,” Roshandel said.
Iran has been supportive to the U.S. fight against terrorism, he
said, by offering help in the search and rescue missions of lost
American pilots in Afghanistan.
Payam Parvinchiha, a third-year marine biology and international
development studies student, said Bush probably had not realized
his remark would lead to so much conversation and debate.
“Evil is a word that is taken lightly in the United
States, but is very insulting in other countries,”
Parvinchiha said, noting that South Korea, an enemy of North Korea,
was also offended by North Korea’s inclusion in the
“˜axis of evil.’
Parvinchiha added that Bush’s remark did have some good
outcomes by creating dialogue among the three labeled countries and
showing that Iran is a major player in world politics.
Bush’s remark also showed how out of proportion the United
States’ view had become toward Iran, he continued.
Academic head of the Lowy School for Overseas Students at
Tel-Aviv University, David Menashri, said relations between Iran
and the United States have been shaky since the Iran hostage crisis
in 1979, when Iranian students seized the American Embassy in
Tehran, holding 52 Americans hostage for over a year.
But over the past decade, Iranian-U.S. relations have been
improving, he added, citing that Iran supported the United States
in its war against Iraq in 1990.
Menashri, the incumbent of the Parviz and Pouran Nazarian chair
in modern Iranian studies, said Sept. 11 events have shown Iran as
more of an ally than an enemy to the United States, pointing to
Iran’s publicly-held “moments of silence” in
observance of the attack.
“The Sept. 11 attack could have helped more in promoting
an understanding between the United States and Iran,”
Menashri said.
But Bush’s remark killed any hope for positive dialogue
between Iran and the United States, Menashri said.