Fault lines in Tehran
America's policy towards Iran is out-dated

Features Page Leading article
The Guardian, London
12/10/97

THE GATHERING of Islamic states in Tehran is an achievement even before it begins for its Iranian hosts. The biggest of its kind since the revolution, attended by high-ranking officials from its former foes, it sends a message that Iran is not only a force in the region but is recognised as such by the region. It stands in confident contrast to the limping US-backed economic summit held last month in Qatar. The region has its own identity regardless of Western labels, and especially so when the only initiative coming from the West - the now misnamed Middle East peace process - has run into the ground.

But the Tehran conference also offers a window through which to peer at recent hopeful developments in internal politics. The struggle between the reform-minded President Mohammed Khatami and the hardline mullahs led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not a figment of Tehran-watchers' imagination. Last month it erupted into violence when the conservatives mounted demonstrations demanding the execution, no less, of the respected Ayatollah Montazeri who has backed the new president. Yesterday it was underlined by the sharply opposed opening speeches of the two protagonists.

Some may view with apprehension the emergence of a fratricidal contest in which the mullahs can mobilise street violence and threaten the lives of moderate Muslims. The conservatives still control most of the power apparatus, dominating the national assembly which has called for death for those who allegedly undermine their regime. The Khatami victory in May has not yet dislodged this power base, even though he represents a huge swathe of new social forces - the young, women, minorities and a mass of alienated public opinion.

A more constructive approach is to regard these upheavals as a necessary part of Iran's political modernisation, led by a head of state with a mandate for social change who seeks, however cautiously, a civil society at home and dialogue abroad. This impression is reinforced by the pragmatic atmosphere (give or take a few blips) in which foreign observers and journalists are being handled. More significant, conference resolutions prepared by Tehran diplomats are avoiding calls for blanket sanctions against companies which trade with Israel.

These new developments should prompt a review - already overdue - in Washington of its persistent efforts to "isolate and contain" Iran and to wage a sanctions war against the regime. It makes even less sense now to seek to bar the door from the outside when it is being eased open from within. It is time to ditch past history when the US having "lost" the Shah's Iran was humiliated by the Ayatollah's revolutionary students. There have been a few small signals of change from Washington recently, but much more is needed. Iran is not a rogue state in the same category as Libya or Iraq. It has rather more in common with China - a country ruled by a single force but becoming socially much more diverse, with rapidly growing economic weight and regional influence. Yesterday the Iranian culture minister Ataollah Mohajerani cautiously invoked the example of "pingpong diplomacy", while complaining that the US had rejected dialogue when he last proposed it. The analogy today, with Iran drawn against the US in the World Cup, is with football. Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has even offered mediation between the US and Iran. It would be bizarre, and perhaps disastrous, if out-dated US policy missed the chance for constructive engagement, and the hardliners in Washington joined forces with the mullahs in Tehran.

Related links

* Iran News
* Complete list of Iranian online media