At an international security conference in Munich on February 3, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov lashed out at U.S. policies and rejected Washington's claim that whoever does not side with the U.S. supports terrorism!

Stressing that there should be no double standard in dealing with terrorism, he said the U.S. claims that Iran is linked to international terrorism have not been substantiated by any proof or evidence.

Ivanov also pointed out that at a time when the international community was ignoring the dangers of terrorism emanating from the Taleban in Afghanistan, Iran was fighting terrorism in that country.

The fact is that leveling baseless and undocumented accusations against the Islamic Republic every now and then has turned into a habit of U.S. officials. In the latest instance of this propaganda, the U.S. secretaries of state and defense claimed that the Iranian government has helped Taleban and Al-Qaeda members enter this country!

In an interview broadcast by the U.S. television network ABC on Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he had, no doubt, members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taleban militia had fled into Iran, and that Iran has armed certain groups in Afghanistan! Furthermore, Secretary of State Colin Powell also said on the same day that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) was trying to infiltrate into western Afghanistan!

It seems that one of the main reasons why the U.S. Administration keeps repeating its hackneyed charges against Iran about imaginary threats to U.S. national security is to justify the huge and unprecedented increase in its military budget to the American public. Besides, the fact that Washington has been denounced by the international community for revoking international accords like the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty and its insistence on establishing a missile defense system, which will only promote a worldwide arms race, also explains the motives behind its anti-Iran propaganda which claims that the Islamic Republic poses a threat to its security.

The fact that U.S. congressional elections are slated for November this year is also relevant. Success in these elections is of paramount importance to White House officials. But this success largely depends on the satisfaction of U.S. arms manufacturers, who are the main backers of the incumbent president. It is quite clear that promoting an arms race and the escalation of militarism will create a good market for the sale of U.S. arms.

Above all, Iran's principled policy of opposing foreign intervention in the region runs counter to the U.S. plan to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan in order to boost its influence in the region. This policy is one of the main factors prompting U.S. propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

However, world condemnation of Bush's unwarranted remarks over the past few days clearly shows that the international community is well aware of U.S. intentions behind these allegations. Therefore, this new U.S. propaganda campaign, like the previous ones over the past 23 years since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, is also doomed to failure.