You need friends

America's foreign policy on Iran promises a regional disaster. The country which spawned revolutionary Islam two decades ago has been undergoing a process of reform encouraged by the diplomatic engagement of Britain, Europe and even the U.S. Now its inclusion in George Bush's ill-conceived "axis of evil" (alleged to sponsor international terrorism) threatens to demolish that fragile restructuring.

The evidence that Iran is sponsoring terrorism and thereby threatening U.S. interests is flaky at best -- as it is for North Korea and Iraq. The reason Iran is on Bush's hate-list is because it defied his support for Israel when, last month, it financed a shipment of arms to the Palestinian Authority of Yasser Arafat.

The fallout from this policy, has already seen an intensification of the row between Britain and Iran over London's choice of a new ambassador for Iran.

Bush must recognize that it is in America's interests to moderate its hawkish foreign policy. Otherwise, it risks not only worsening relations with already-hostile states, but also damaging friendly alliances, particularly within Europe. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, when America discovered the extent of others' hostility, it must see that it needs all the friends that it can get.

-- The Guardian, London