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The deteriorating ties between the United States and Iran have again provoked concerns over the possibility that Teheran may become Washington's next prey in the Middle East.
Accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons, Washington has demanded that Teheran accept stricter weapons inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The White House has been so annoyed by Teheran's "uncompromising" stance that it is talking about regime change in Iran.
The best way to deal with the Iranian nuclear programme is to liberate the Iranian people, said Richard Perle, an adviser to the Pentagon who helped engineer the US-led campaign to overthrow Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
Perle's remarks, though legally wanting and morally porous, are typical of the present-day arrogance in the US administration.
Iran, a country labelled by the United States as part of an "axis of evil" and a nation accused of sponsoring terrorists, has long been disliked by Washington.
But it is up to the Iranians whether their government should be supported or opposed. Perle's words remind people of Washington's tactics when the current Bush administration was inundating the media with unconfirmed information in a bid to demonize Saddam Hussein.
There was no legal basis for the war in Iraq. Bush has so far produced nothing beyond his dislike of Saddam Hussein to justify his war against Iraq.
Washington has stepped up its diplomatic offensive against Iran, alleging that Teheran has links with terrorists and is developing nuclear weapons.
But Washington has yet to provide convincing evidence for Teheran's connection with terrorists.
That does not seem to matter anyway. Washington has just waged an illegitimate war in Iraq. It is using a carrot-and-stick strategy to muffle talk of US war crimes. There are no signs that it has learnt from that unpopular war.
The Bush administration said it would help the People's Mujahedeen, an Iraq-based opposition group that Washington once called a terrorist organization.
Washington is not shy of declaring its moral support for what it once branded as a terrorist organization. It has little regard of rules when it is pursuing a set goal.
For Washington, the existence of the Iranian regime is a potential threat to the US-designed Middle East.
Hawkish US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld last month warned Teheran that any attempt to forge a post-war Iraq into an Islamic theocracy would provoke severe attacks from Washington.
This may be a more accurate reflection of Washington's psychology of dissatisfaction with Teheran.
Rumsfeld's warning also made explicit why the United States has been making things difficult for Iran.
(China Daily June 19, 2003)
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