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Khatami Rules Out Easing of Ties With U.S. After Furor Over “Secret Talks”
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Khatami says no talks with U.S. |
TEHRAN,
May 29 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Following last week’s
row over rumors of “secret U.S.-Iran talks”, President Mohammad
Khatami on Wednesday ruled out talks with Washington or any easing of
ties, accusing Washington of adopting a "bellicose" stand
toward Tehran, Iranian television reported.
"American
leaders are making statements which threaten the peace and stability
of the world," Khatami was quoted by the radio as saying in a
meeting with the speaker of the Kenyan parliament.
"This
goes against the interests of the United States and the American
people."
"When
a power ... uses a bellicose and threatening tone toward us, the
possibility of talks cannot be considered, nor even the slightest
easing in relations," Khatami stated.
"We
want peace," he said, adding however that softening Iran's stand
"would mean not taking into account the interests of the
regime."
"All
those who speak of discussions with the United States must submit to
the policies of the regime and not do anything that goes against the
national interest and honor," he added.
Parliamentary
sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday that U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
in Damascus on April 15 to help facilitate a U.S.-Iranian political
dialogue despite their differences.
Assad
passed the message on to Khatami, who rejected it, the sources said.
Foreign
ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi would not comment on the report,
but said it was "nothing new".
"In
view of America's behavior, all negotiation between the two
governments is out of the question," he said.
Washington
maintains a trade embargo on Tehran and a U.S. State Department report
last week branded Iran the biggest state sponsor of terrorism, on top
of U.S. President George W. Bush's accusation that the Islamic
republic forms part of an "axis of evil" – along with Iraq
and North Korea.
The
U.S., however, has refrained from making blatant assertions that
either Iran or North Korea would face military action. The
Administration, however, has been clear on its intentions of toppling
the Iraqi regime “by an means” at its disposal, including via a
direct attack.
For
several weeks, the reformist press and MPs, among them leading
pro-reform MP Mohsen Mirdamadi, have said secret talks have taken
place with Washington and demanded that details be disclosed.
However,
the government has repeatedly denied the reports and Iran's
conservative justice department on Saturday made any support in the
media for negotiations with the United States a "criminal
offense", AFP went on to report.
According
to reformist circles, secret talks were held in November 2001 in
Ankara and then in Nicosia last March with figures close to former
president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani taking part on the Iranian
side.
Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic ties following the 1979
Islamic revolution and the seizure of the U.S. embassy here.
Last
week, a row erupted over alleged "secret talks" between Iran
and the United States with a senior reformist member of parliament
insisting they had taken place, despite official denials.
Mohsen
Mirdamadi, reformist chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and
National Security Committee, said he was "surprised" at the
comments Sunday by Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi strongly denying
any "official or unofficial" contacts between Tehran and
Washington.
Mirdamadi
was quoted by the reformist daily Norouz, which he heads, that he
would be meeting Yunesi's deputy Wednesday to give him information on
the subject, which is highly sensitive in Iran.
A
parliamentary source meanwhile said that a conference organized by
Mirdamadi's committee on U.S.-Iran relations, to be attended by both
conservative and reformist figures, was to go ahead as planned for
last Tuesday.
Mirdamadi
called on the government three weeks ago to disclose the details of
the secret talks alleged by the media to have taken place since
November 2001 in either Cyprus or Turkey.
The
government for its part ordered Yunesi's ministry to investigate,
prompting the minister's remarks.
"These
reports are rumors and in this situation in which the United States is
threatening our nation, any talks with the US are against our national
interest," he said.
But
Mirdamadi queried whether any inquiry had been mounted and warned,
"These remarks without investigation will harm the credibility of
the intelligence ministry".
The
reformist MP claimed Yunesi was voicing "his own personal
views" and urged the intelligence ministry to gather all its
information and study it before coming to a conclusion on the matter
of clandestine U.S.-Iranian channels.
Meanwhile,
the reformist press has fingered conservative figures, including
former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, as being involved in the
secret talks.
But
conservative newspapers have swung back at the allegations. The daily
Jomhuri-e-Eslami accused reformist foreign ministry officials of
spreading rumors about Rafsanjani to "break the taboo of talks
with the US."
It
fumed, "These rumors damage the credibility of the regime".
The
daily also demanded that the intelligence ministry "identify the
liars and those who spread rumors to find out what are the motivations
behind it".
A
spokesman for the conservative-dominated judiciary told Khorasan daily
last week that the "courts can prosecute those who spread rumors
regarding Iran-U.S. relations".
The
spokesman called on the press "not to fan the flames of rumors
and lies which can be considered as an offense and be prosecuted in
the courts".
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