POLITICS: U.S. Cautious Over Iran’s Call for Dialogue

By Jim Lobe Reprint | | Print |

Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jan 9 1998 (IPS) - The Clinton administration is treading warily toward any “people-to-people” exchanges with Iran while welcoming the spirit of an unprecedented television address to the United States by Iranian President Mohammed Khatami.

U.S. officials say they welcome both the tone and much of the content of Khatami’s remarks, made Wednesday during a 45-minute interview shown on the Cable News Network (CNN). But the consensus within the administration was that Khatami, elected overwhelmingly at elections in May, is not prepared yet to launch an official dialogue with Washington to bring an end to the 18-year lapse in diplomatic relations.

At the same time, officials say the administration is likely to follow up on Khatami’s suggestion for more exchanges of “professors, writers, scholars, artists, journalists and tourists” by liberalising visa regulations and taking other measures.

“At this point, the interpretation we have of the remarks made by President Khatami is that they are not yet ready for…an official dialogue,” said State Department spokesman James Rubin Thursday.

“We will look closely, and take a serious look, at what President Khatemi has said regarding people-to-people exchanges and the people-to-people dialogue. However we believe the best way to address our bilateral differences would be engage in a government-to-government dialogue.”

Rubin made it clear that Washington is ready for talks, provided the exchange is publicly acknowledged, even if the content is kept confidential. He said the administration would expect to be able to raise during discussions its three major complaints about Iranian behaviour – although he did not pose these as conditions for such talks.

“Let me stress that, changes in Iranian policies on support for terror, the development of weapons of mass destruction and support for violent opposition to the Middle East peace process remain key pointsto forging a better relationship,” Rubin said.

As regards Iran’s own grievances against the United States, some of which were touched on by Khatami during his interview, “We take (them) seriously,” said Rubin. “We would listen to what they have to say; we would hope Iran would take our concerns seriously as well.”

Khatami’s initiative comes at a critical moment for the administration, which has come under increasing pressure in recent months from a variety of quarters to review its “containment” policy against the Islamic Republic.

U.S. oil and gas companies, banned by law from investing in Iranian energy development, are increasingly worried about their position in the oil- and gas-rich Caspian region. Washington’s steadfast opposition to opening pipelines from there to Iran and onto the Gulf – the cheapest and most convenient route to global markets – is not earning it any friends either among the companies, European consumers, or the Caspian states themselves.

Last week’s high-profile inauguration of a Turkmen-Iranian pipeline – over US objections – underlines both Iran’s rising strategic importance to the Caspian region and the ongoing failure of Washington’s efforts to isolate Teheran economically.

Other American businesses also are eager to end a two-year-old trade embargo. USA-Engage, a coalition of some of the biggest U.S. corporations formed last year to oppose unilateral sanctions, released a statement Thursday hailing the administration’s call for direct talks between the two governments. “It is important that the United States and Iran seek every opportunity to overcome their longstanding differences,” the group said.

In addition, Iraq’s recent success in dividing the US-led coalition which defeated it in the Gulf War seven years ago is prompting observers and some policymakers to urge the administration to improve relations with Iran as a counterweight.

“Any Iranian-US rapprochement would seriously unnerve (Iraqi President) Saddam (Hussein),” a New York Times columnist wrote this week. Such a strategy “would rattle Saddam’s cage and shake up the entire Middle East chessboard.”

Signs that the administration is taking these views more seriously – even if it has not yet launched a formal policy review – are becoming increasingly apparent. Washington sent Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering to Paris this week for what Rubin called a “full-fledged discussion with the French government about Iran.”

The administration is looking for ways to waive sanctions against a consortium of oil companies from France, Russia and Malaysia which recently signed a two-billion-dollar contract with Iran to help develop energy resources. Sanctions are supposed to be imposed under a 1996 U.S. law, the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), against foreign companies which invest more than 20 million dollars a year in Iran’s energy sector.

In his TV remarks, Khatami cited ILSA as a “clear example” of a series of U.S. efforts to “inflict economic damage” against Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He also cited the earmarking by Congress of 20 million dollars in 1996 to the Central Intelligence Agency to “topple the Iranian government,” as well as past US support for the late Shah, beginning with the 1953 coup d’etat against Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh as examples of US hostility.

But most of his remarks stressed Iranian respect and appreciation for U.S. civilisation and history. At one point, he argued that the goals of the Islamic Revolution were similar to those which inspired the founders of the United States in the late 18th century.

In two passages which attracted great attention within the administration, Khatami expressed “regret” that “the feelings of the great American people were hurt” by the taking of U.S. hostages at the U.S. embassy in Teheran in 1979 – the act which led to the severing of diplomatic ties.

Similarly, Washington officials were encouraged by the Iranian president’s unequivocal condemnation, when asked about bombings against Israeli citizens, of “any form of killing of innocent men and women who are not involved in confrontations.”

“He keeps pushing the envelope,” said one senior official who has previously expressed scepticism about Khatami’s status within the power hierachy in Teheran. “We need to figure out how to respond creatively.”