# Is there ACTUAL Proof That Iran Sponsors terrorism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 10, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315 "2005-02-10T01:05:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/1 "2005-02-10T01:05:23Z")
All this talk about knocking out Iran’s nuclear industry is making me nervous. So I ask thj Condi Rices of the world: where is the beef? Show me actually waht Iran is doing to sponsor terrorism. I believe the Mullahs of Iran are evil, and hate the USA. But I also belive that they are NOT stupid…they know full well how inferior they are in terms of military strenght. Why would they risk an armed conflict?It doesn’t make sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/2 "2005-02-10T01:14:54Z")
Iran was a major military sponsor of Hezbollah. Here’s a BBC profile of Hezbollah talking about their ties: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle\_east/1908671.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1908671.stm) Here’s a page from the Council on Foreign Relations talking about Iran’s link to terrorist groups: [http://www.terrorismanswers.org/sponsors/iran.html](http://www.terrorismanswers.org/sponsors/iran.html) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/3 "2005-02-10T08:02:48Z")
Anti-Isreali? Fer sure. Anti-American? I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/4 "2005-02-10T13:33:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Anti-Isreali? Fer sure. Anti-American? I don’t know. Ummm…I can’t believe you don’t recall the Embassy hostages! :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/5 "2005-02-10T13:54:17Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Ummm…I can’t believe you don’t recall the Embassy hostages! :smack: :smack: :smack: That was 20 years ago after all. I think that somewhere near half of Iranians alive today were toddlers or younger at that point. Maybe someone will be so kind as to find us population break down. Second, there’s a difference between being against American foreign policies and being against America in general. So answer may depend on the definitions used. I think that there is an appreciation of many Western things, even if there’s a profound lack of affection for American foreign policies. Blue Jeans & Rock ‘n’ Roll, baby. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/6 "2005-02-10T14:00:20Z")
As I understand it, resentment against the mullahs who took over after the Shah was overthrown (and pretty much run the country for their own benefit) has created an awful lot of pro-American sentiment in Iran, especially among the young. Obviously, the government is still very anti-American, though. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/7 "2005-02-10T14:10:57Z")
Oh yeah, from what I’ve seen, it’s pretty much a given that Iran sponsors terrorism. Not so much against the US mind you, as against Israel and formerly Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/8 "2005-02-10T15:34:02Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Ummm…I can’t believe you don’t recall the Embassy hostages! :smack: :smack: :smack: Different Government, and was that “terrorism”? But the question was not “has Iran ever sponsored terrorism?” - the OP seemed to what to know if they were a “clear & present danger”. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/9 "2005-02-10T15:42:59Z")
Of course, damn near every powerful nation on earth is (continually) involved in sponsoring acts of terrorism; they just call it something different when _their_ own interests are involved. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/10 "2005-02-10T20:35:06Z")
My recall of the embassy hostages was that it was a spontaneous capture by a bunch of radical students that had nothing initially to do with the Iranian government. Once it happened the Iranian government felt it was its best interest to let it go on, at least until they got some useful mileage out of it. Of course what was odd about that episode was that not long after that the US start selling arms to these same terrorist Iranians, and used the proceeds to fund another bunch or terrorists, the Contras, who were fighting another bunch of alleged terrorists the Sandinistas were were being supported by the terrorists supporting government in Cuba, who themselves had suffered terrorist attacks funded by the US… ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/11 "2005-02-10T20:43:03Z")
> [@](#): > > I think that somewhere near half of Iranians alive today were toddlers or younger at that point. This is more or less true. As it happens, life expectancy in Iran is pretty low. From the CIA World factbook. > [@](#): > > 0-14 years: 28% (male 9,935,527; female 9,411,647) > 15-64 years: 67.2% (male 23,608,621; female 22,744,128) > 65 years and over: 4.8% (male 1,645,246; female 1,673,755) (2004 est.) Perhaps theocracy hasn’t been good to their economy. Also try here: ```auto http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs.pl?cty=IR&out=s&ymax=250 ``` If the link doesn’t work then cut and paste this into your browser and bring up the Iran listing: [http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html](http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html) ---
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/12 "2005-02-10T20:49:55Z")
The OP asks if there us “ACTUAL Proof”. The answer is NO! In any case, the US is well known to act and bring disaster without ACTUAL proof. The question is redundant. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/13 "2005-02-10T21:07:54Z")
> [@Bosda](#): > > Ummm…I can’t believe you don’t recall the Embassy hostages The hostage crisis wasn’t a very nice thing to do, but since when is one gov’t holding the citizens of another gov’t a “terrorist attack”? ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/14 "2005-02-10T22:26:27Z")
Would you accept the findings of the 9/11 Commission as “proof”? If so, they say: \*\* While it found no operational ties between al Qaeda and Iraq, the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has concluded that Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network had long-running contacts with Iraq’s neighbor and historic foe, Iran. Al Qaeda, the commission determined, may even have played a “yet unknown role” in aiding Hezbollah militants in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia, an attack the United States has long blamed solely on Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors. \*\* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6581-2004Jun25?language=printer](http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6581-2004Jun25?language=printer) Bush’s friend Tom Keane said: _“there were a lot more active contacts, frankly, with Iran and with Pakistan than there were with Iraq”_ ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/15 "2005-02-10T23:31:28Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > …may even have played a “yet unknown role”… Who can make this wording even more vague? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/16 "2005-02-11T00:47:48Z")
After Iraq, why bother to even ask the question? Proof, or the absence of proof, is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/17 "2005-02-11T02:29:55Z")
> [@scm1001](#): > > My recall of the embassy hostages was that it was a spontaneous capture by a bunch of radical students that had nothing initially to do with the Iranian government. :rolleyes: :dubious: 😃 Snort, chortle, guffah. “spontaneous”. It is to laff. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/18 "2005-02-11T03:15:59Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > :rolleyes: :dubious: 😃 > > Snort, chortle, guffah. “spontaneous”. It is to laff. Actually far as anyone has been able to determine, that was in fact the case. No government authorities appear to have authorized it, though the student leaders almost certainly received some tacit or even active encouragement from some clerics. As it happens, while it may have caught Khomeini momentarily by surprise, it was a godsend to him and disaster for the Iranian government, which at that point was run by Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, a moderate secularist ( something of a spiritual successor to Mossadegh and leader of the moderate left in Iran - he had been appointed by Khomeini, who had apparently almost immediately regretted that bit of political compromise ). Khomeini was able to manipulate the crisis to his advantage, forcing his government to collapse in just a few days and ultimately he kept squeezing until the leftists/technocrats/secularists were almost completely gone. For Khomeini the hostage crisis at least short term was more significant in terms of internal politics, than it was in terms of international politics. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/19 "2005-02-11T03:22:54Z")
> [@Malodorous](#): > > The hostage crisis wasn’t a very nice thing to do, but since when is one gov’t holding the citizens of another gov’t a “terrorist attack”? Terrorist attack may not be the right phrase, but seizing the persons of diplomatically credentialed people is not generally considered cool. Frankly, despite **Tamerlane** ’s excellent explanation, if I were the Iranian government, I would have arrested the students and freed the hostages instantly. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315/20 "2005-02-11T03:57:10Z")
> [@wisernow](#): > > The OP asks if there us “ACTUAL Proof”. > The answer is NO! Will you take the Iranian Constitution as proof? Admittedly by itself it does not mean they have actually done anything but I’d say it is a good start to their mindset. > [@](#): > > **Article 3** > In order to attain the objectives specified in Article 2, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has the duty of directing all its resources to the following goals: > > _\_ > > 5.the complete elimination of imperialism and the prevention of foreign influence; > > _\_ > > 16.framing the foreign policy of the country on the basis of Islamic criteria, fraternal commitment to all Muslims, and unsparing support to the mustad’afiin\* of the world. > > _\<\<_- translates to freedom fighters I believe…could be wrong\>\>\* > > _\_ > > **Article 154** > > The Islamic Republic of Iran has as its ideal human felicity throughout human society, and considers the attainment of independence, freedom, and rule of justice and truth to be the right of all people of the world. Accordingly, while scrupulously refraining from all forms of interference in the internal affairs of other nations, it supports the just struggles of the mustad’afun\* against the mustakbirun\* in every corner of the globe. > > _\<\<_ - translates to oppressed and oppressors I believe…could be wrong\>\>\* > > SOURCE: [Islamic Republic of Iran Constitution](http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution.html) More stuff… > [@](#): > > **Iran** > > Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2003. Its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence and Security were involved in the planning of and support for terrorist acts and continued to exhort a variety of groups that use terrorism to pursue their goals. > > Iran’s record against al-Qaida remains mixed. After the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, some al-Qaida members fled to Iran where they have found virtual safehaven. Iranian officials have acknowledged that Tehran detained al-Qaida operatives during 2003, including senior members. Iran’s publicized presentation of a list to the United Nations of deportees, however, was accompanied by a refusal to publicly identify senior members in Iranian custody on the grounds of “security.” Iran has resisted calls to transfer custody of its al-Qaida detainees to their countries of origin or third countries for further interrogation and trial. > > During 2003, Iran maintained a high-profile role in encouraging anti-Israeli activity, both rhetorically and operationally. Supreme Leader Khamenei praised Palestinian resistance operations, and President Khatami reiterated Iran’s support for the “wronged people of Palestine” and their struggles. Matching this rhetoric with action, Iran provided Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian rejectionist groups – notably HAMAS, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command – with funding, safehaven, training, and weapons. Iran hosted a conference in August 2003 on the Palestinian intifadah, at which an Iranian official suggested that the continued success of the Palestinian resistance depended on suicide operations. > > Iran pursued a variety of policies in Iraq aimed at securing Tehran’s perceived interests there, some of which ran counter to those of the Coalition. Iran has indicated support for the Iraqi Governing Council and promised to help Iraqi reconstruction. > > Shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein, individuals with ties to the Revolutionary Guard may have attempted to infiltrate southern Iraq, and elements of the Iranian Government have helped members of Ansar al-Islam transit and find safehaven in Iran. In a Friday Prayers sermon in Tehran in May, Guardian Council member Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati publicly encouraged Iraqis to follow the Palestinian model and participate in suicide operations against Coalition forces. > > Iran is a party to five of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. > > SOURCE: [Patterns of GLobal Terrorism – US Department of State](http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/31644.htm) > [@](#): > > One Iranian official, Hojatoleslam Ali-Akbar Mohtashami-Pur, makes no effort to hide his close association with Hizballah and other groups described by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations. He was ambassador to Damascus from 1981 to 1985, Interior Minister from 1985-89, and a parliamentarian in 1989-93 and again in 2000-04. He was closely involved with the creation of Hizballah and also with the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut. After he went to the Interior Ministry there was a bureaucratic tug-of-war over who would control the Liberation Movements Office. > > Mohtashami-Pur is secretary-general of the International Conference to Support the Palestinian Uprising (Intifada), which was held in Tehran in April 2001 and June 2002. Representatives from Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Peoples’ Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command participate in these events. Mohtashami-Pur has attended smaller events like this in Beirut and Damascus in the last four years. > > Tehran consistently rejects accusations of involvement with or support for international terrorism and claims instead that it is a victim of this phenomenon. Some observers may debate the definition of terrorism, but there is no question that organizations openly backed by Iran are responsible for hundreds of deaths. Iran, therefore, is at least partially responsible for those killings. > > SOURCE: [Radio Free Europe](http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/1/347A2C5F-088A-408B-A632-D5FC64804671.html) ← Bunch more stuff there [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actual-proof-that-iran-sponsors-terrorism/289315.md?page=2)