TEHRAN'S RETURN TO TALKING IN TERROR

Ahmadinejad: Reviving Iran's bad old ways?

Last updated: 2:52 am
December 22, 2008
Posted: 2:18 am
December 22, 2008

EXPLOSIVE sticks are found in the biggest department store in Paris. A hitherto unknown group calling itself "Afghan Liberation Front" claims this as a message to President Nicolas Sarkozy. "Take French troops out of Afghanistan by February 2009 or else," it warns.

Thousands of miles to the east, Turkish police round up 38 would-be terrorists said to be planning operations for al Qaeda with the knowledge of "a neighboring country."

Further east, police discover car bombs designed to explode during ceremonies marking Bahrain's national day. "Had we not found these in time, there would have been mass carnage," a police spokesman warns. A group calling itself the "Bahrain Liberation Front" claims credit.

Those incidents follow Kuwaiti authorities' arrests last month of "potential terrorist operators" trying to infiltrate the emirate to plan "murderous attacks."

In every case, the finger of blame points at Tehran - where the radical revolutionary faction in power appears to be hardening its positions on most issues.

To be sure, there is no hard evidence that Tehran was involved in any of the incidents. The groups that have claimed credit or been blamed are unknown to terrorism experts and could be covers for others interested in causing mayhem in Europe and the Middle East.

Still, circumstantial evidence suggests Tehran is returning to its traditional use of terrorism as a tool of "international communication."

The bomb scare in France came just days after Sarkozy launched his harshest verbal attack against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Sarkozy said he would never shake hands with "that man" because of Ahmadinejad's pledge to "wipe Israel off the map."

That France intends to press confrontation over Iran's nuclear ambitions was further emphasized with the publication of a parliamentary report claiming that Iran will have the bomb by 2010. The report will make it hard for the Obama administration to embark on a policy of endless "direct dialogue" with Tehran.

Tehran reacted by canceling the official visit of Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki to Paris. Ahmadinejad called Sarkozy "that ridiculous little man" and said no one in Iran wished to shake hands with the French leader.

Was the Paris bomb scare, coming just before Christmas holidays, another part of Iran's response?

Tehran also has had reason to be angry at Ankara. Despite strong pressure from Iran over the years, Turkey has refused to downgrade its relations with Israel while hunting radical Islamists linked with Iran. More recently, Turkey angered Iran by allowing a number of Iranian military and security officials to slip across the frontier to seek asylum in the West.

So, were the terror plots in Turkey a message from Tehran to Ankara?