Los Angeles Times And Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon denounced Sunday what he termed a "very dangerous" alliance between the Palestinian Authority and Iran that has already resulted in the shipment of tons of weapons to the region and poses a serious threat to the future of the Jewish state.
Striking a characteristically uncompromising note, Sharon rebuffed all suggestions that he resume negotiations with the Palestinians until they meet an expanding list of conditions and demands.
Sharon’s remarks were linked to the Jan. 3 interception of a boat in the Red Sea carrying 50 tons of weapons. Israel and the Palestinian boat captain said the arms were destined for the Gaza Strip and that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was behind the shipment. The Palestinian leadership has denied any involvement.
"We are facing … the involvement of Iran in our area here, which we regard to be a very dangerous development," Sharon said. A link between the Palestinian Authority and Iran — "terrorism center of the world" — will make it all but impossible to offer political concessions to the Palestinians, Sharon said, although he also made it clear that he wasn’t inclined to do that anyway.
Iran, however, denies any security ties to Arafat or the Palestinian Authority. Iran has been traditionally hostile toward Arafat because of his 1993 decision to enter into peace negotiations with Israel.
Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said Sunday that Tehran has no military relations with Arafat and that no Iranian organization could have sent the weapons. "Iran has played no role in this drama," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Shamkhani as saying.
Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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