The United States yesterday signalled a dramatic shift in its attitude towards Iran, a country previously branded by President George Bush as part of an ”axis of evil”.
Bush is willing to open a dialogue with the Islamic republic but would like to see some gesture in return, a senior US official said. ”This is a chance for Iran to step forward,” the official continued, but added: ”The burden is on the Iranians.”
There was no formal response from the Tehran government last night, although earlier Iran’s president, Mohammad Khatami, warned against reading too much into the US-Iranian collaboration in dealing with the devastating Bam earthquake.
”Humanitarian issues should not be intertwined with deep and chronic political problems,” he said. ”If we see change both in tone and behavior of the US administration, then a new situation will develop in our relations.”
The earthquake — which is now thought to have killed up to 50 000 people — has touched off some of the harshest domestic criticism of the theocratic regime since it came to power. Iranian newspapers have been openly critical of the domestic crisis management — in particular the rescue operation, and the failure to take preventive measures despite earlier quakes, including one in 1990 which killed 35 000 people.
The American move would mark a significant change in a policy that has been in place since formal ties were broken following the seizure of its embassy in Tehran 24 years ago.
A genuine thaw in US– Iranian relations would be another remarkable development following the decision by Libya — also a pariah state in American eyes – to renounce weapons of mass destruction a fortnight ago. The US official, who declined to be identified, said that American humanitarian assistance in response to the earthquake had accelerated discussions within the administration on its policy to wards the Islamic republic. ”The earthquake kind of brings it to a head,” the official said.
Within hours of last Friday’s earthquake, the deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, phoned Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zariv, to offer American assistance. Zariv returned the call within 30 minutes, much to the surprise of American officials.
The arrival of an American humanitarian mission in the shattered city was another rare official contact between America and Iran.
There were further indications of a softer line from the US secretary of state, Colin Powell. In an interview with the Washington Post published yesterday he spoke of ”encouraging” moves by Iran, and indicated that the US is open to restoring dialogue.
Iranian leaders agreed to allow surprise inspections of their nuclear programme, which has been a major American concern. ”There are things happening, and therefore we should keep open the possibility of dialogue at an appropriate point in the future,” Powell told the Post.
The Bush administration official stressed that US willingness to open a dialogue was tied to its hope that Iran would take a step to demonstrate good faith by addressing issues of concern to the US.
Those issues include US accusations of Iranian support for terrorist organisations, and the US belief that the republic has been working in secret to develop nuclear weapons.
In his state of the union address two years ago, Bush designated Iran, with Iraq and North Korea, as ”an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world”. Neo-conservative elements in the US administration have made no secret of their desire for regime change in Iran, but Britain and other EU countries have pursued a policy of ”critical engagement” which helped to defuse growing tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear programme. – Guardian Unlimited Â