US rattles sabre over Iranian 'state terrorism'

King George Dubya's national security adviser Condoleeza Rice has once again accused Iran of state involvement in terrorist attacks against the United States.

Now that this business in Afghanistan is all but over, Rice has repeated allegations that Iran gave support to the terrorists which attacked the US military base in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in 1996. Nineteen US servicemen died in the attack. Speaking in the El-Hayat newspaper Ms Rice stated that the US has a "major problem" with "support for terrorist activities".

Sources close to King George are said to be furious that Iran did not follow the USA's guidelines for equipping terrorists. They cite as a successful example General René Schneider, killed by US-supplied weapons when he refused to oust the democratically-elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende in 1973.

This is not the first time the US has tackled Iran on the issue of terrorism. Retired readers may remember the illegal trade in weapons between the the two countries way back in 1985. On that occasion the US took a firm stand against terrorists by funding the Contras to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

The charges come a day after Iran announced that armed American gunman had fired upon one of its tankers in a completely legitimate attack. The Swiss envoy to Iran, who represents American interests said that the tanker was fair game as it was thought to be smuggling Iraqi oil.

Iran and Iraq are, of course, famous for their cordial relations.