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Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has placed the ball in the court of the new Bush administration to revamp its hostile policies toward Iran. At the same time, the foreign minister pointed out that the government should "try to meet the expectations of the American oil companies."
Kharrazi insists that America's policies toward Iran have failed and "most U.S. oil companies have called for lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic." The minister further emphasized, "U.S. policies toward Iran have only isolated U.S. oil companies."
Kharrazi issued this statement during the course of a joint press conference with his visiting Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem. Turkey is an American vassal.
The Iranian minister, while stressing American oil interests, was careful to declare, "Any breakthroughs in U.S.-Iran relations might prove a token of an effort toward normalization [of U.S.-Iran relations], but we must [still] wait and see."
Iran has made talks with the U.S. conditional on an end to the sanctions and the unfreezing of some $10 billion of its assets in U.S. banks since November 1980.
The sanctions notwithstanding, the U.S. and Iran maintain a love-hate relationship. In Iraq, the U.S. serves as a protector of the Shia minority whose interests are dear to Iran. Also, the periodic Anglo-American bombing of Iraqi sites keeps an Iran nemesis cropped to size. Not only that, there is full collusion of American and Iranian interests in Afghanistan, where both countries oppose the Taliban.
In the anti-Taliban enterprise, Iran has one partner - India. Despite its strong Islamic credentials, Iran has let pragmatism rather than morality rule its policy. Iran is now awaiting a visit by Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, whose Islamophobia and anti-Muslim policies are no secret.
Iran and India have at stake an important project - the Iran-India gas pipeline that Iran needs to sell gas to India. The pipeline has to pass through Pakistan, with whom India can never reconcile. Kharrazi has stated that the laying of the Iran-India gas pipeline through Pakistan would contribute to regional peace and stability.
This exchange with India comes at a time when Iran's relations with Pakistan are less than warm; this cooling is spurred by the two neighbors' disagreement over the Taliban issue.
Iran News, in an editorial dated February 15th, held that only Pakistan - "the main force and comrade in arms of the Taliban" - can persuade the Taliban to enter into a dialogue for peace, urging that Pakistan take a step in that direction and prove its goodwill to the U.N. and the international community.
This tone sounds so similar to India's declaration that Pakistan is the main force and comrade in arms of the Kashmiri Mujahideen, and only Pakistan can persuade the Mujahideen to abandon the Kashmiri struggle.
Stability at Home
Iran is advancing this self-interest based policy amidst stability at home. President Mohamed Khatami is being asked by pro-reform supporters to stand for reelection on June 8th.
However, since losing their majority in parliament in legislative elections last year, conservative clerics have used their control of the judiciary to mount a sweeping anti-reformist crackdown. At least 30 pro-reform newspapers and magazines have been closed and many liberal journalists and political activists have been imprisoned.
The hard-liners also control the broadcast networks, the military, and the police; and receive support from the supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters.
Following Khatami's criticism of the conservatives, Khamenei urged Iranians to unite, saying "the enemies" of Iran were trying to create political excitement.
Khatami was elected president on May 23, 1997 by over 20 million votes (69 percent of the total number cast) for a term of four years that will end in May. The constitution allows a president two consecutive four-year terms. Iran's hard-liners - those who follow a strict interpretation of the 1979 Islamic revolution - have yet to nominate a candidate for the upcoming election.
Speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), Mehdi Karroubi Majlis, who is the head of the leftist Majma-e Rouhanioun Mobarez (Militant Clerics League), is another pro-reform leader.
The call for reform places Khatami in a favorable light in the West. This will count particularly when Iran seeks to attract foreign investment in order to jumpstart its economy. It needs to create 800,000 jobs a year to keep unemployment from rising above the current rate of about 15 per cent. Khatami has said that Iran should open up to the outside world to draw foreign investment.
The indicators are that Khatami will sail through a reelection. It remains to be seen whether or not the Bush administration will respond and play ball, being that the ball is already in their court.
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