IRAN PROPOSES WASHINGTON FULL COLLABORATION FOR TOPPLING SADDAM
By Safa Haeri, IPS Editor
PARIS 23 Jun. (IPS) One of Iran’s most powerful and enduring statesmen has proposed the United States Tehran’s "full collaboration" in removing the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hoseyn, provided Washington renounces efforts at removing the present leaders of the Islamic Republic.
This is the conclusion some leading Iranian political analysts have reached in their first reading of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s statement on Friday, describing it as "unprecedented and very important".
Addressing worshippers during the weekly Friday sermon, the former president said "Iran is not pursuing an adventurist policy against America and if that country shows good will and treats other countries on an equal footing, Iran is ready for any kind of co-operation with America".
"If America drops its bullying as well as its imperialist policies, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to co-operate with that country", Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani said, citing Afghanistan as an example of collaboration Tehran could offer the United States in toppling Mr. Hoseyn from power.
Visibly frightened by US President’s recent menaces against the leaders of the Islamic Republic, and being certain that he was not bluffing, the Iranian clerical leaders have reached the conclusion that it is better to satisfy Mr. Bush instead of engaging him, hence Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s offer of "full co-operation", analysts told Iran Press Service.
"This is the first time that a high-ranking Iranian leader of the grade of Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani promises all kind of colaboration to the United States", noted Mr. Ahmad Ahrar, a veteran observer of the Iranian scene and columnist with the London-based Farsi-language weekly newspaper "Keyhan of London".
"Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s declaration is very clear", he went on, adding that until now, he would limit Tehran-Washington co-operation to exchanges between sportsmen, scholars, and intellectuals and on trade, but never on political field.
According to Mr. Ahrar, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s proposal of "any kind of co-operation" includes also the toppling of Saddam Hoseyn, an issue that was raised during the just concluded visit to Tehran by Turkish President Ahmet Nejdet Cezer.
Mr. Ahmad Salamatian, a well-informed commentator of Iranian affairs and a former deputy from the central city of Esfahan, also agreed, seeing in Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s declaration "much more than a green light" by the ruling conservatives, provided Washington changes its present belligerent policy towards the Islamic Republic.
Ever since Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the highly unpopular leader of the Islamic Republic imposed a black out on the press two weeks ago banning any article, opinion and comment supporting dialogue with Washington, it was the first time that one of Iran’s most influential cleric set conditions for co-operation with the United States.
The ban -- which is largely ignored -- was introduced after pro-reform press and lawmakers revealed that Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani had dispatched a team to Cyprus to meet unidentified American officials and discuss with them practical ways and means of normalising Iran-US relations.
Asked whether the Chairman of the Expediency Council has the approval of the leader in expressing his surprising bargain to the Americans, Mr. Salamatian said in his view, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani had been able to make the ruing clerical establishment accepting his political guidelines.
"Being constantly sitting at the centre of Iranian decision-making for the last 24 years, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani is certainly in a position to sell the Americans his plan for normalisation, telling them provided you show good will to me as the godfather of Iranian leadership, I’m ready to any kind of compromise", commented Mr. Salamatian, who lives in Paris.
He detected three "important" points in Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s statement:
A) By stating that "Iran is not pursuing and adventurist policy against America", the former president might mean that Iran could renounce acquiring weapons of mass destruction, which is one of the conditions set by Washington for normalising relations with Tehran;
B) By insisting that the United States "must show good will", Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani wanted to make sure that Washington accepts the Iranian authoritarian regime as it is and would do nothing to topple it and;
C) By telling the Americans very clearly that Iran was ready for "any kind of co-operation", and having mentioned Iran’s collaboration in Afghanistan, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani is in fact presenting a bargain: Full co-operation for overthrowing Saddam, which is Washington’s Middle East corner stone policy for the months to come, against their good will towards the Iranian theocracy, Mr. Salamatian analysed.
Knowing well that no deal could be cut with the American without taking into account Israel’s apprehension of Iranian missile and nuclear menaces as well as its support for radical Palestinian groups opposed to peace with the Jewish State, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani has also tried to remove this obstacle by stating that Iran backs "innocent people only and in limited form". "This is a serious guarantee to Mr. Ariel Sharon and Israeli extremists", Mr. Salamatian said.
"In other words, he is telling both the Americans and the Israelis that what Iran is doing is nothing more than a face saving propaganda", Mr. Salamatian further observed, adding that a close look at Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s Friday statement, one reaches the conclusion that he presented a "general framework" for talks with the United States.
"Though it is vague, yet the proposals constitutes a very important and serious start for lasting negotiations", said Mr. Ahmad Salamatian, analysing the surprising statement for the Persian service of Radio France Internationale (RFI).
It is interesting to note that while conservatives-controlled press played down Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s remarks, the pro-reform newspapers and politicians criticised, asking, "how one could fully collaborate with an enemy?"
"At about the same time and in the same place from where Ayatollah (Mohammad Taqi) Mesbah Yazdi – the mentor of the hard-line conservatives -- was attacking those who support the principle of dialogue with the United States, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani stated that if America drops its bullying as well as its imperialist policies, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to co-operate with that country and adds that Iran did collaborate with the Americans in Afghanistan to the point that they thanked Iran. The question is that how one could fully collaborate with an enemy?" the pro-reform daily "No Rooz" (New Day) asked in an editorial titled "Confusing Thoughts".
"Besides, said the paper, what did we received against our collaboration in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan if not open anti-Iran outbursts in the Loya Jirga by the American envoy", a reference to a speech made by Mr. Zalmay Khalizad accusing Iran of interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
Mr. Vafa Tabesh, a member of the pro-Khatami Islamic Iran Participation Front’s political bureau described the cleric’s declaration "without importance and not serious" and Mr. Sa’id Raja’i Khorasani, Iran’s former Envoy to the United Nations, termed it as "Friday sermons diplomacy", acknowledging that however, the American could take it as a green light from Iran accepting their conditions.
But Mr. Reza Tarraqi, a member of the League of Islamic Coalition, the conservatives hard-core group said Tehran and Washington could compromise provided the United States accepted the Islamic Republic and stops one sided support for Israel. ENDS IRAN US COOPERATION 23602