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The debate to renew dialogue with Iran. January 26, 1998 |
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NewsHour Backgrounders
December 15, 1997
President Khatami calls for a dialogue with the West.
May 26, 1997
Mohammad Khatami is elected president of Iran .
January 30, 1997
The State Department's annual report on human rights violations .
March 13, 1996
A summit on terrorism is held in Egypt .
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Matthew Klein of Minneapolis, MN, asks: A week after Mr. Khatami made his friendly overtures to the U.S., speaking at the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini, President Khatami criticized the U.S. for oppressing the Iranian people and furthermore Iran's supreme leader, Ayatolla Ali Khamenei, once again stated that the U.S is the enemy of Iran. With such contradictory statements, the question must be asked: Is Iran ready to have a dialogue with the United States?
Congressman Sam Gejdenson, (D-Connecticut), answers:
Your question is well-founded. Who speaks for Iran these days? President Khatami won an important election and looks to embark on some needed domestic reform, but Ayatolla Khamenei and Ali Rafsanjani also influence foreign policy.
President Khatami's interview on CNN and his invitation for a dialogue between the American and Iranian people is encouraging. But people-to-people dialogue and cultural exchanges should be a supplement to, not a substitute for, government to government negotiation between Tehran and Washington.
That being said, the United States and Iran will definitely be having a cultural exchange on June 21 in Lyon, France when we meet in soccer's World Cup. And my son Ari, who is a very big soccer fan, hopes America wins this exchange because the U.S. will need those three points to advance to the next round.
Dr. Gary Sick, former National Security Council staff member and principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis, answers:
There is a struggle underway in Iran for the soul of the revolution. One faction sticks to the old revolutionary slogans, while Mr. Khatami and others have been attempting to change that environment and bring Iran back into the community of nations. It took a considerable act of courage by Mr. Khatami to address the American people in a conciliatory manner and to call for a break in the wall of hostility between the two countries. In Iran, he is now being attacked for some of his comments, and he must tread carefully. The outcome of the debate in Iran is essentially a domestic matter, and the United States is very much an outside player.
In some respects, the United States and Iran are mirror images of each other. Both countries have conservative factions that oppose any change in the policies of hostility of the past eighteen years, and these hardliners inadvertently reinforce each other. In my view, it will be some time before either country is ready for a full-fledged official dialogue, but in the meantime we should be aware that our words and actions can alter the terms of the debate inside Iran in ways that would be contrary to our own best interests.
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