re: germans lose respect brits get cold feet
UK Guardian Straw: UK will not attack Syria or Iran
Staff and agencies Wednesday April 2, 2003
Britain would have "nothing whatever" to do with military action against Syria or Iran, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, signalled today. Mr Straw's comments will be seen as an attempt to ensure that speculation about an Anglo-American attack on the two countries is quashed ahead of his meeting with EU foreign ministers tomorrow.
The US president, George Bush, has previously identified Iran as part of the so-called "axis of evil", while America's defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, recently accused Syria of supplying military equipment to Iraq and threatened to hold it to account for its actions.
In contrast, the government has made efforts to improve relations with Syria and Iran. Mr Straw has visited Iran on a number of occasions and the prime minister has visited Syria.
Interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Straw described Iran as "a completely different country and situation from Iraq".
"Iran is an emerging democracy and there would be no case whatsoever for taking any kind of action."
"We have had good cooperation from the Iranian government," he added. "The Iranians have more reason to know of the terror imposed by Saddam Hussein, not just on his own people but on other peoples in the region, than almost any other country including Kuwait."
