Pakistan to raise US-Iran standoff at OIC FMs meeting

Islamabad, Apr 30 (UNI) Fearing a US attack on Iran, Pakistan will raise the issue at the OIC Foreign Ministers' meeting scheduled for May 14-17 here to avert another conflict in the region and evolve consensus among the Muslim states to cope with the emergent situation.

''The possibility of US attack on Iran is very much there owing to the imminent American failure in Iraq and Afghanistan and it is going to be catastrophic for the regional peace and stability,'' The Nation newspaper quoted a senior official as saying.

He said the Bush administration was most likely to open a new war front if the situation went on deteriorating in Iraq and Afghanistan, and things did not improve by the end of 2007.

He said the United States would hold elections for the President and Vice President next year and the Bush administration would like to boost the chances of Republican victory by resorting to war against Tehran to lessen the damage inflicted as a result of Iraq and Afghan wars.

The official said Pakistan would take up the Iran-US standoff for deliberations during the forthcoming Islamic countries Foreign Ministers' meeting in a bid to evolve a joint strategy for averting war between Washington and Tehran.

He said the United States could also opt for air strikes instead of full-fledged war against Iran to damage its nuclear programme to push it several years back.

When asked about the other issues to be taken for discussions in the OIC Foreign Ministers' meeting, the official said the foreign ministers from Islamic countries would deliberate upon the vital matter of ''Islamophobia'' and in this context the state of relations between the West and Muslim world.

Apart from that, he said Kashmir, Palestine and OIC reforms would be the other important issues being discussed at the Foreign Ministers' meeting.

UNI