LONDON Ñ Iran has decided to examine an Iraqi request to buy intermediate-range missiles and combat aircraft.
Western intelligence sources said Iran and Iraq have agreed to establish
a committee to discuss the request by President Saddam Hussein for the
Shihab-3 intermediate-range missiles as well as up to 100 aircraft.
The sources confirmed many details of a July 22 report by the London-based
A-Sharq Al Awsat newspaper of the Iraqi request. But some of the sources disputed the
report that an Iraqi military delegation led by Saddam's son,
Qusay, made a secret visit to Teheran last week and that Iran turned down the weapons
request.
The newspaper reported that Hussein was willing to pay "in cash and for a very high price" for an unspecified number of Shihab-3 intermediate-range missiles. The missile has a range of 1,300
kilometers and can strike virtually any U.S. military base in the Persian
Gulf and Levant from Iraq, according to Middle East Newsline.
A U.S. intelligence official also confirmed the Iranian-Iraqi military
talks and stressed that Teheran agreed to consider Baghdad's request for
weapons. The official said the Saddam regime is willing purchase up to 100
aging Iranian jets for half its original price. Baghdad has offered to
return the aircraft once they are no longer required.
The official said Baghdad is most interested in obtaining the French
Mirage F1-E aircraft. Iraq flew 24 such jets to Iran on the first day of the
1991 Gulf war and Teheran is said to have upgraded several of the warplanes.
"Iran won't do anything that is rash," a senior Western intelligence
analyst said. "But the mere fact that Iran did not say no to the Iraqi
request is significant and reflects how far their relations have developed."
The Iranian side of the proposed panel would be represented by Gen.
Mohammed Baqer Zolqadr, deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps. The sources said the Iranians want the panel to examine ways to
ensure that any weapons supplied by Teheran would not be used against the
Islamic regime.
"It is not clear whether Qusay was actually in Teheran," the analyst
said. "We know there was a military delegation, but whether Qusay headed it
remains a matter of inquiry."
The Western intelligence sources said Iran does not appear ready to
supply Iraq with weapons. But they did not rule out limited weapons supplies
to ensure Baghdad's good will. The two countries have opened their joint
borders to allow Iran to transport missiles, rockets and other weapons
overland and by air to the Beirut-based Hizbullah movement.
Iraq, however, has expressed concern over what it asserts has been
Iran's increasing support for the opposition against Saddam. On Tuesday,
Iraq announced the capture of an Iranian insurgency cell.
