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Tuesday February 5 1:58 PM ET

Iran Moves to Ease Tension with U.S.
By Ali Raiss-Tousi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran moved Tuesday to ease tension with the United States, seeking help from Washington to arrest any al Qaeda fighters who may have fled to the Islamic republic from Afghanistan.

After days of harsh warnings from U.S. officials and angry responses by Iranian hard-liners and military officials, Iran's reformist Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi offered an olive branch.

``Instead of waging negative propaganda, the Americans had better give us any information they have so that we go after them and keep them out of Iran,'' he told a news conference.

Kharrazi, a close ally of moderate President Mohammad Khatami, denied U.S. charges that Tehran had helped Taliban and al Qaeda Muslim militants to flee a U.S. military assault on neighboring Afghanistan and was plotting to destabilize the new U.S.-backed government there.

But he said Iran would try to tighten its long and porous border with Afghanistan to keep out ``foreigners and particularly Arab fighters.''

``We have smashed many rings involved in human smuggling and reinstated visas for Persian Gulf Arab states,'' he said. ``We are also making a lot of arrests, among whom could be members of Taliban or al Qaeda. We will deal with them and hand them over to their respective countries.''

Kharrazi's comments were the first conciliatory remarks from Tehran after President Bush last week accused Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, of being an ``axis of evil'' bent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Defense Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani warned Washington not to underestimate Iranian resolve.

STILL DEFIANT

``Iran is neither Afghanistan nor Iraq. Iran is a historical and strategic country with a legitimate, well-founded system of government,'' Shamkhani told state television.

``...We will not hesitate a moment in defending our freedom, independence and other values,'' he added.

Shamkhani was quoted by a newspaper as saying that in order not to harm ties with its neighbors, Iran would not seek nuclear weapons ``for any reason.'' But Shamkhani told the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat that Iran would continue to develop its Shahab-3 surface-to-surface missile for defense purposes.

Iran's military said Monday it was prepared to confront any U.S. attack.

U.S. officials say they have reports showing that Iran supplied arms to various groups in Afghanistan in an effort to undermine the U.S. influence and the central government there.

Kharrazi dismissed the charges as ``mere excuses.''

``It is known to all that we played an effective part in helping establish this government in Afghanistan. It is not logical for us to weaken a government we have worked so hard to bring about,'' Kharrazi said.

Iran Tuesday also rejected as propaganda Israeli allegations that Tehran had sent members of its Revolutionary Guards to Lebanon and armed the Hizbollah guerrilla movement with rockets.

Bush's remarks against Iran came as a surprise as the two nations had appeared to be moving closer to each other in recent weeks. Iranian leaders quickly condemned the September 11 attacks on the United States and cooperated with Washington against the Taliban.

Many reformers fear the latest U.S. threats would help Iranian hard-liners to revert to their revolutionary stance and crack down on internal dissent.