President Bush imposed the harshest sanctions on Iran for a generation and branded its military a supporter of terrorism yesterday, fuelling claims that he is preparing possible air strikes against Tehran.

Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard of being a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its elite al-Quds Force of supporting terrorism, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The new sanctions, the first time that the US has sought to punish another country’s military, cap a concerted effort by the Bush Administration in recent weeks to recast the Iraq war as a wider battle against the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

President Bush has repeatedly accused Iran of providing weapons, funding and training for Iraqi militia who are killing US troops. In particular, his Administration has singled out the al-Quds Force – the 15,000-strong military wing of the Revolutionary Guard – of providing the sophisticated roadside bombs that are the biggest killer of US troops in Iraq.

Administration officials say that the Revolutionary Guard, formed in 1979 to safeguard the Islamic revolution in Iran, now runs vast swaths of the country’s international business interests, including front companies that procure nuclear technology for what the West claims is a covert nuclear weapons programme. Tehran insists that the programme is for civilian use.

The new financial sanctions, which also target three state-run banks and the Iranian Defence Ministry, reflect growing frustration inside the White House over the failure to get a third, tough new set of UN sanctions to punish Tehran for its nuclear programme.

The sanctions will cut off more than 20 Iranian entities, including individuals and companies owned or controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, from the US financial system. Companies outside America were also put on notice that doing business with the designated groups could put them at risk of a US financial penalty.

Dr Rice said that America was still committed to diplomacy to resolve the nuclear stand-off. But she said that the sanctions were part of a “comprehensive policy to confront the threatening behaviour of the Iranians”.

In testimony to Congress on Wednesday she described Iran as “perhaps the greatest challenge for American security interests in the Middle East, and possibly around the world.”

President Putin of Russia led opposition to the strategy. “Why worsen the situation?” he said. Referring to the sanctions, he added: “It’s not the best way to resolve the situation by running around crazily like a man with a blade in his hand.”

Press TV, Iran’s new English-language satellite channel, called the sanctions “Washington’s new plot against Tehran”.

Mr Bush says that he is committed to seeing a diplomatic resolution. Critics of the Administration, however, are becoming increasingly alarmed by the aggressive new rhetoric against Tehran. It comes as Iran has suddenly eclipsed Iraq as the main foreign policy topic on Capitol Hill and among the 2008 presidential candidates.

Mr Bush last week suggested that a nuclear-armed Iran could trigger “World War Three”. On Sunday Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, said in a rare speech that there would be serious consequences if Iran did not end its enrichment programme. This month David Petraeus, the US ground commander in Iraq, accused Tehran’s Ambassador to Baghdad of being part of the al-Quds Force and implicated Tehran in the assassinations of provincial Iraqi governors.

Critics of the White House say that the sudden and aggressive focus on Tehran by the White House resembles the rhetorical drumbeat against Saddam Hussein that presaged the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The decision to target the Revolutionary Guard and al-Quds Force for its actions inside Iraq has increased fears among Mr Bush’s opponents that he is considering limited “defensive” airstrikes against Revolutionary Guard targets inside Iran. Last month the US Senate labelled the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organisation.

Strained relations

1953 Democratically elected Prime Minister, Muhammad Mussadeq, overthrown in US-backed coup
1979-80 Hostage Crisis: Iranian students take over US Embassy in Tehran
1980 US breaks off diplomatic relations with Iran, April
1985-86 Iran-Contra Affair: US holds secret talks with Iran, making an arms deal in exchange for Iranian assistance for the release of US hostages in Lebanon
1993 US announces “dual containment” policy aimed at isolating Iran and Iraq
2002 US-Iranian relations reach a new low, with President Bush labelling Iran as part of his “Axis of Evil”
2005 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad elected President. IAEA accues Iran of violating the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty
2006 Tehran offers direct talks on Iraq, which are immediately rebuffed by the US Administration. UN imposes sanctions
2007 US accuses Iran of assisting Iraqi insurgents. US Ambassador to Iraq meets Iranian officials at Iraq neighbours’ conference in March

Source: Times Database

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