Iran's complaint against Saddam a tactical move

Iran said on Sunday that it would submit a complaint to the special Iraqi tribunal against Saddam Hussein; it does not merely mean a revenge on the ousted president but embodies more tactical aims.

The Iran-filed complaint focuses on Saddam's alleged launch of war and use of chemical weapons against Iran, which, at first, definitely reiterates the position of Iran that the 1980-1988 war was imposed by Iraq, to which Tehran has been sticking for long.

However, the more important aims enclosed into the complaint file have not failed to leak out beyond the legal arena.

When Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi announced Iran's complaint at the press briefing on Sunday, his words conveyed some thought-provoking information.

"Saddam's trial should be transparent and deal with all his crimes so that the reasons behind such crimes would be clarified," Asefi said.

It does not need genius to calculate what is enshrouded in his description, even though he sorted out a neutral word of "reason".

Previously, some analysts had pointed out that the Iraqi tribunal excluded Saddam's attack on Iran in order to avoid plunging the United States into an embarrassing situation, for Washington had been standing behind Baghdad during the 1980-1988 war.

Apart from the war itself, Iraq's use of chemical weapons during the war is also a charge that Iran has consistently presented to demonstrate against and condemn, hinting an accomplice behind the curtain as well.

In 2003, some disclosed confidential documents of the US administration showed a shameful connivance of Washington at Iraq's use of chemical weapons against Iran, which supplied more powder for Tehran's fires upon the United States.

Naturally, the charges of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and chemical weapon use would remind the world of the US deep involvement into it, which was welcomed by Iran, the long-standing opposition of Washington.

As to the shared embarrassment, the Iraqi interim government will at the same time face a dilemma.

Iran posed a high profile that it would support the legal solution to the prolonged enmity between the two countries.

If the Iraqi interim government turns down the offer, or just ignores it, the Islamic republic will obtain a diplomatically advantageous situation by criticizing Baghdad for dodging the responsibility inherited from the former government and performing according to the US decree.

Iranian former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Friday played prelude for the future attack.

"If the Iraqi court refuses to deal with this issue, then it shows that the US has ordered the case to be like so," he said.

Iran cast a stone, awaiting more than two birds, which may or may not be hit.