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To: isopatch who wrote (74449)	9/24/2000 7:12:07 PM
From: Greywolf	Respond to of 95453

Interesting view from Iran on Saddam Hussein, The English-language newspaper, 'Iran Daily' in its editorial Sunday commented on the unexpected hikes in oil prices and said that recently Saddam Hussein has been repeating his old claims against Kuwait, knowing fully well that what he says will destabilize the oil market. "The effect of his words on oil prices is not because what he says is true but because he has his playmates who like to see the market destabilized," the daily said. "The main beneficiary of his 1990 attack on Kuwait was the Zionist regime and American hegemony. In this round, he is not calling his foe's bluff but beckoning for his partners' help," the editorial pointed out. "Technically, everybody knows that Saddam's allegations are untrue and if it were true, common oilfields bordering oil-producing countries would have sparked wars between different states. Oilfields are jointly owned by Mexico and the US, by Colombia and Venezuela, by Iran and its neighbors, Britain and Norway and so on. But there are accepted formulas in the civilized world for utilizing these resources." The daily went on to ask, "Why is Saddam reiterating his claims and sending jitters throughout the market on the eve of the OPEC Heads of State Summit in Caracas? It is because some quarters in the Western world have been claiming that OPEC causes the increase in oil price." The editorial observed, "Now that the people, especially the middle and working classes in the industrialized countries of the West, realize that up to 75 percent of what they pay for a unit of fuel go to their own governments, they are staging mini revolts. These governments need someone to rescue them and put the blame on OPEC countries. "Who is a better nominee than Saddam to help them? This time, however, the strategy is not going to work because the Kuwaitis will not react as they did a decade ago and other oil-producing countries won't go in that direction either," it noted. "In those days, they incited Saddam's megalomaniacal claims against Iran and assisted him in attacking Iran. Now they have understood what a costly exercise that was. As a result, in the international oil arena, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other producers are collaborating among themselves and with non-regional producers, as well as Venezuela and Mexico. "Iran should not remain silent during Saddam's latest round of claims because he may not only destabilize the oil market, but could create a chaotic situation as did the Kuwaiti occupation or the Iraq-imposed war against Iran," ceded the editorial. "This calls for active oil diplomacy. Unfortunately, in Iran, we lack oil diplomacy and view the industry through the narrow prism of engineering concerns. This is why we have not been able to optimize our national interests in this sector. "Today the West should understand that Saddam is of no value any longer. He is a poseur like the shah, who pretended he could affect oil prices. That ended when Imam Khomeini ordered the oil workers to strike. "Like him, Saddam is now simply a useless stooge. With the price of oil soaring, Saddam's value has decreased to the value of a penny. It is time to get rid of this bad penny," concluded the editorial.