Pakistan unwilling to be used by US against Iran

The News, April 14, 2005
Pakistan unwilling to be used by US against Iran
By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is unwilling to become involved in the American containment of Iran, according to Pakistani academic Dr Riffat Hussain.

Speaking at the Middle East Institute on Tuesday, Hussain, a professor at the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, said President Pervez Musharraf’s remark about Pakistan remaining neutral in the event of a US invasion of Iran had been widely reported and criticised in Iran. He said there were differences between the two countries on several issues. They supported different sides in Afghanistan and Pakistan felt aggrieved by Iranian disclosures about receiving nuclear centrifuges from the Dr AQ Khan network. Pakistan felt that Iran should have informed it of these supplies. Iran, on its part, felt that by dispatching centrifuges to the IAEA for inspection, Pakistan may have contributed to the tightening of the punitive noose around its neck.

Pakistan, he said, felt much unease about Iranian-Indian relations, while Iran views the development of the Gwadar port with apprehension as it would undermine the importance and economic potential of its Chah Bahar port. The US was opposed to the proposed gasline to India as it did not want Iran to break out of its isolation. If Pakistan went along with US wishes, it would be another negative input into relations between Pakistan and Iran. He said the US had military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq and in case it decided to move against Iran, it would not need Pakistan’s help, a test Pakistan would be relieved to be spared.

In answer to a question, Dr Hussain said a nuclear Iran would be a “nightmare” for Pakistan because in case Pak-Iran relations took an adverse turn in the future, Iran could well join hands with India to pressure Pakistan. As for Iran, it felt threatened by the United States and were it to acquire nuclear weapons, it would feel safe, the assumption being that a country with nuclear weapons was not attacked. North Korea was not attacked by the US because it had nuclear weapons. He said the more pressure Washington put on Iran, the closer will it bring Tehran to the acquisition of nuclear capability.

Turning to Afghanistan, Dr Hussain said when the Taliban were in power, on no critical issues were they willing to listen to Pakistan. Pakistan never controlled the Taliban, as some believed. He said the rise of “narco economy” in Afghanistan is a threat to Pakistan because of its spillover effect. Today 87 percent of the world’s opium is being produced by Afghanistan. Warlordism is also rampant for which the US has to accept some responsibility. He said a stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest. He also felt that the Durand Line issue should be settled. The proposed gasline, if it becomes a reality, would benefit both Afghanistan and Pakistan. He found the presence of Hamid Karzai at the March 23 Pakistan Day parade in Islamabad as a sign of improving relations. He stressed that the destinies of the two countries were linked. He was of the view that the concept of “strategic depth” had now been given up by Pakistan. He said the Afghanistan bureau in the ISI had been merged with the South Asia bureau which was significant. The Afghan policy was not being run by the ISI, as in the past, but by the Foreign Office and General Musharraf. He did not think Pakhtunistan was an issue any longer or would be one in the future.