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While Tehran is viewed as a potential saboteur of reconstruction in Iraq and renewed efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Bush administration remains stuck in quicksand, unable to gain consensus on U.S. policy.
The Defense Department has called for an effort to undermine the Islamic regime in Tehran by encouraging democratic forces and financing an armed opposition. The State Department opposes the proposal.
U.S. officials said both departments agree that Iran can no longer be ignored as a key source of Middle East instability.
They said the Bush administration is concerned that Iran will undermine U.S. efforts both to stabilize and reconstruct Iraq and to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace.
The biggest disagreement between the two U.S. departments centers on how to pressure Iran.
The Pentagon, buoyed by supporters in Congress, wants to sponsor the Mujahadeen Khalq opposition group, which appears on the State Department list of terrorist organizations.
Under the Pentagon plan, the Mujahadeen would be reconstituted under a different name to avoid the accusation that Washington was sponsoring a terrorist group. Pentagon officials, particularly Defense Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith, has deemed Mujahadeen the most effective Iranian opposition group, with excellent contacts within the Islamic regime.
The U.S. Army has disarmed thousands of Mujahadeen insurgents in Iraq. But the weapons have remained intact and are in military warehouses.
The State Department has opposed dealing with the Mujahadeen Khaq. The Mujahadeen was placed on the list of terrorist groups in 1994 amid a U.S. effort to reconcile with Tehran.
The dispute between the Pentagon and State Department has hampered an interagency effort to draft a series of recommendations to President George Bush. An interagency meeting scheduled to discuss Iran last week was indefinitely postponed amid the failure to bridge the gap between the Pentagon and State Department.
“The fact is that to the extent that Iran attempts to influence what is taking place in Iraq and tries to make Iraq into their image, we will have to stop it,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. “And to the extent they have people from their Revolutionary Guard in there attempting to do that, why we’ll have to find them and capture them or kill them.”
The concern has been compounded by Iran’s rapid advance toward nuclear weapons. Officials said Iran is determined to obtain nuclear weapons to ensure that its regime will not be toppled by the United States, and is said to be rapidly moving in that direction.
A Pentagon assessment has raised the prospect that Iran has advanced far enough to be able to assemble nuclear weapons without help from other nations, Russia in particular.
The State Department said Iran still requires help for uranium enrichment and other techniques required for nuclear weapons. The department has urged stronger pressure on China, North Korea and Russia.
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