DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILISATIONS VS AXIS OF EVIL

By Arshin Adib-Moghaddam*

In the recent months and weeks we have witnessed a heated debate among intellectuals within and outside Iran about the future relationship between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Whilst in the United States public debate in the post-September 11th climate is suffocated by the all-encompassing "war on terrorism", turned war on civil rights and freedom of speech, we have witnessed a heated debate in Iran, with a wide spectrum of opinions which defy simplistic representations of Iranian politics along the lines of reformists vs. hardliners.

The debate about a rapprochement was already luring below the surface of Iranian politics after the short period of détente between the two states in the build-up to the war against Afghanistan, culminating in a much overrated, symbolic handshake between Colin Powell and Kamal Kharrazi. In the turmoil created by the farce of the "Karin A" affair and a concerted effort by the Jewish lobby to put Iran high on the list of possible targets in an escalating war against terrorism, the hopes of an Habermasian communicative dialogue based on reason and reciprocity ebbed away.

Keeping the post-Cold War tradition of constructing significant others as representations of imagined enemies alive, the Bush Administration succumbed to the public relations campaign uniting segments of the Jewish lobby with think tank functionaries such as Michael Rubin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The very same Rubin bombarded the Washington establishment with articles and opinions about "Iran’s burgeoning WMD program" whilst simultaneously turning into an advocate of Highlights are from IPS    and his entourage of disillusioned monarchists.

The synthesis of external mobilisation of anti-Iranian sentiments and unqualified remarks about future "Returns of Kings" as a strategy of derailing the Iranian quest towards a representative democracy, proved at least to be marginally successful since the Bush administration could not free itself from the shackles of the "Washington Mafia."

With the state of the union speech and the nonsense about an axis of evil, the capitulation of the Bush administration terminated an astonishingly short, biased and perverted self-dialogue about future US-Iran relations.

Operating in an environment where the threat of nuclear confrontation in South Asia, the overlap of the Palestinian struggle for independence, the potential scenario of an US attack on Iraq, the continuing civil war in Afghanistan, yield an atmosphere where September 11th threat scenarios are an everyday reality, the domestic debate about US-Iran relations in the Islamic Republic, enriched by comments of Iranian intellectuals living abroad, continues to be lively and contested.

The debate gained a recent impetus by the declaration of Majles representative Mohsen Mirdamadi who, according to the Islamic Republic News agency (IRNA), claimed to have information about secret talks between the United States and Iran. Both the Iranian and the US government were swift to deny the allegations and speculations were halted after an intelligence report under the auspices of Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi declared that there is no basis for the rumour of Iran-US talks.

If the talks have actually occurred or not is a secondary issue, since both governments get frequently in contact in international forums such as the United Nations, or conferences about the situation in Afghanistan or Armenia and Azerbaijan anyway. What is important however, is the continuing debate between the political institutions of the Islamic Republic, reflected in the statement of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) issued to the Majles on 9th April 2002, the consultations of the Majles’ National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Tuesday 21st May 2002, or the numerous editorial comments published by IRNA, Mardom Salari, Toose’h, or Azad. In another reflection of the merits of dialogue and debate, the public opinion polls published in "Iran" newspaper in its 13th March 2002 issue, gave an impression about the publics reaction towards the US threats and an evaluation of the response of the Iranian government.

Whilst the United States is fortifying its borders with the implementation of "Border Security Acts" and insulating itself from the institutions of international society, the current culture of debate about US-Iran relations in Iran is a refreshing additive to the participation of a civil society in evolution and should continue to provide a framework for the exchange of different perspectives. ENDS IRAN US DIALOGUE 1602

Editor’s note: Mr. Arshin Adib-Moghaddam is Fellow of the Cambridge European Trust Society with Hughes Hall and Doctoral Candidate at the Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge. He is the author of "Global Intifadah?: September 11th and the Struggle within Islam, (forthcoming) Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 15, Number 2, July 2002 and is currently teaching at Bellerbys College, Cambridge.

*Highlights are from IPS

*The Above article was posted by Iranian website Peyvand on 30 May 02, after the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, had ordered the Judiciary to impose total black out on any articles, commentaries, opinions defending dialogue with the United States.