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U.S. sends message to Iran on missile report
The United States has told Iran it takes a report of misfired missiles landing in Iranian territory seriously and will investigate, State Department deputy spokesman Phillip Reeker said on Saturday. After receiving a message from Tehran about a report of missiles striking an Iranian oil refinery depot, he said ''we responded last night through the Swiss channel saying that we take this seriously and will look into it.''''Today, we are sending a second message (to Tehran) through the Swiss confirming that we are looking into it,'' Reeker added. ''We take seriously Iranian sovereignty and territorial integrity.'' "They didn't make the 'Axis of Evil' list for nothing, you know!" Initially, a U.S. official reported that the United States had apologized to Iran after a number of stray missiles crashed inside its territory. But later, he retracted that, saying he had been misinformed. ''There is no apology. There is nothing to apologize for yet,'' said the official. ''We have to find out what happened. Apparently there are different schools of thought'' as to what might have occurred. Iran, which is torn between its hatred of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and deep distrust of Washington, has blamed U.S. jets for firing three missiles that landed in southwestern Iran and accused U.S. and British forces of violating its airspace. Although the rockets, one of which injured two guards at an oil refinery depot, were blamed on U.S. fighter pilots engaged in attacks on southern Iraq, Iranian officials privately acknowledge the missiles could well have come from Iraqi forces trying to bring the U.S. jets down, diplomats said in Tehran. A U.S. official said this explanation was ''plausible.'' Diplospeak for "you bet your ass." Posted by: Steve White 2003-03-22 |
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