IRANIAN PAPERS ANGRY AT THE REGIME'S POOR DIPLOMATIC PERFORMANCES
PARIS, 27 Apr. (IPS) As the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would go ahead signing bilateral agreements with neighbouring Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan defining their borders in the disputed Caspian Sea, Iranian independent newspapers and politicians criticised President Mohammad Khatami’s poor performances in foreign diplomacy, as seen in the just finished Summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states.
President Putin also announced that Moscow would organise military manoeuvres in the Sea together with forces of Almaty and Baku, attracting criticism from Iranians, pointing that the Caspian should be kept as a no military zone of peace and friendship among the bordering states.
In a speech in Tashkent, Hojjatoleslam Khatami once again insisted on the
necessity to keep the strategic region of Caspian "out of foreign military
presence", a reference to the increasing presence in the region of American
forces.
What angered Iranians is that Mr. Putin made the declaration as Mr. Khatami is still in the region, visiting Uzbekistan and going to Kyrkyzistan, in the last leg of his four Central Asian tour.
For the pro-conservative, but moderate "Entekhab" (Choice) and "Sedaye Edalat" (The Voice of Justice), Mr. Putin "annulled the decision reached in Eshqabad by the Caspian Sea Summit in preserving the Sea’s status quo and the military manoeuvres he intends to organise is a set back for Iranian diplomacy.
Actually, the tow days Summit held on 23 and 24 April in the Turkmen Capital ended without any decision.
Experts said thought the Russian President had said that he "might" sign bilateral treaties with Baku and Almaty regarding the sharing of the oil and gas rich Caspian, the three countries have already shared the waters between them.
Reviewing Khatami’s foreign diplomacy, Iranian journalists, politicians and observers pointed to the "very poor performances" of the Iranian diplomacy under the present presidency, citing, among many obstacles, the "plethora" of centres that interfere with the foreign policy in the one hand and "nepotism and bureaucracy" instead of "meritocracy and expertise".
"Any direction you turn to, you'd see things working to our disadvantage. We sometimes overlook the influence of our behaviour in regional and global conflicts", the pro-government "Asia" wrote on Saturday.
Citing the Caspian Sea dilemma to illustrate its point, the paper said some people inside the country insist that by adopting a dogmatic position, Iran stands a better chance of winning an equitable share. "However, experience has it that unless we try to come to an understanding with the parties involved there is no likelihood of getting what we are rightfully demanding" it observed, adding: "And the faster we run, the more we fall behind".
As the four other bordering states, namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have divided the Caspian waters according to internationally agreed principles, the Islamic Republic alone insist on the equal sharing, based on treaties signed in 1921 and 1942 between Iran and the now defunct Soviet Union.
"We feel that the world has not been treating us the way we deserve", "Asia" said, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.
"The problem with Iranian foreign policy is that it is not decided where it should be, meaning at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, but at different places with different, if not opposing interests that have nothing to do with those of the nation", noted Mr. Ahmad Zeydabadi, an outspoken journalist close to the Nationalist-religious groups.
Mr. Ebrahim Yazdi, the General Secretary of the banned Iran Freedom Movement and a former Foreign Affairs Minister told the Persian service of the BBC that the Islamic Republic lacks long term vision ad planning. "Iran, in its foreign policy, reacts not according its national interests, but on ideological grounds and according to other states’ nature and ideologies, not policies", he pointed out.
Answering charges from lawmakers criticising his poor, if not negative performances, Foreign Affairs Minister Kamal Kharrazi stated that the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic is decided by the regime’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i.
The issue of talking to the great American Satan is a good example of the chaos that characterises the Iranian diplomacy.
According to unconfirmed rumours, a group that the government’s official spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh described as "rogue", had been dispatched to Cyprus on orders from Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the regime’s virtual number two man, to meet some American officials.
But newspapers quoted "highly informed" sources saying another team, made of Hojjatoleslam Hasan Rohani, the powerful and influential Secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security and Mr. Ardeshir Larijani, an adviser to the leader, is appointed by him to negotiate with the Americans, a major shift in the traditional policy of Mr. Khameneh'i that is based on rejecting any dialogue with Washington.
According to the same rumours, which, in Iran, often turn to be the truth, Mr. Sadeq Kharrazi, the younger brother of the minister and a Deputy minister for Education and Research, who headed the Iranian delegation to Cyprus two months ago, was forced to resign.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed that the younger Kharrazi had resigned, but said he did so over "personal considerations and disagreements with the Minister".
The popular Iranian website "Gooya" said Saturday, quoting "highly-informed" sources at the Foreign Ministry that Sadeq Kharrazi was removed because of his "gross interferences" in the Ministry's affairs, "enraging" other colleagues. ENDS DIPLOMACY UNDER FIRE 27402