KHARRAZI SAYS IRAN IS READY FOR TIES WITH WASHINGTON

ROME 8 May (IPS)  For the second time in as many days, Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Kamal Kharrazi reiterated that his country was ready to start taking with the United States.

“The Islamic Republic is ready to review its general strategy concerning the United States, including starting negotiations with Washington”, Mr Kharrazi was quoted by Ahmad Ra'fat, the Rome correspondent of the Persian language, Prague-based "Radio Farda" (Tomorrow) as having said after meeting with the Italian Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Mr. Kharrazi had said in Luxembourg that Iran was willing to expand its relations with all nations, “including the United States”, thus breaking with a 24 years taboo.

Two weeks ago, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the powerful Chairman of the regime’s Expediency Council had suggested the solving the thorny issue of relations with its arch foe by asking Iranians in a referendum of leaving it to the Expediency Council.

“The problem of relations with the United States and Egypt not being a general issue, it does not require to be approved by the leader”, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani had indicated in an interview with “Rahbord” (Strategy) magazine. 

Washington had cut all ties with the Islamic Republic after revolutionary students, now most of them turned reformists and calling for resuming relations, stormed the American embassy in Tehran, taking as hostage 55 diplomats and staff.

After Washington's swift victory in neighbouring Iraq and facing renewed threats against their regime, the Iranian ruling ayatollahs are feverishly active in appeasing the Bush Administration by hinting at their readiness to restoring broken ties that Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the orthodox but lamed leader of the Islamic Republic has constantly and stubbornly rejected.

“Generally, Iran wants to expand its relations with all countries, even with America”, Mr Kharrazi said during a one-day visit to Luxembourg on Wednesday, the first visit by an Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister to the Duchy, the 15-members European Union’s smallest nation.

“It is not that only the reformists are for resuming relations with Washington. This is an issue that all Iranians are concerned and they have different views, some believe it is time to expand ties with the United States and some believe it is not the time”, he added, meaning that also some of the ruling conservatives back the idea.

“But we shall never forget that the United States supported Iraq when it attacked our country and cut relations with Baghdad only after Saddam occupied Kuwait”, Mr. Kharrazi pointed out.

Iran's hard line judiciary, which is directly controlled by the leader has declared illegal any calls for restoring relations with the United States and directors of three polling firms that had concluded that at least 74 per cent of Iranians favour normalising relations with “the Great Satan” were arrested, charged with “espionage” for Washington.

The United States has branded Iran part of an 'axis of evil' for allegedly developing weapons of mass destruction and accused the Islamic Republic of topping the list of nations backing terrorism, charges Tehran strongly denies.

“Iranian leaders believe that America's threats are serious. They want to tell America that Iran is not seeking any problems”, the British news agency “Reuters” quoted Mr. Sa’id Leylaz, a political analyst, as having observed.

The United States also accuse Iran of gross interference in Iraqi troubled affairs, having infiltrated hundreds of Iraqi and Iranian agents into the country.

Tehran vehemently rejects these accusations, insists that the Badr Brigade, the military wing of the Tehran-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SAIRI) is not connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

“Iran supports the establishing of a democratic and pluralistic government for its neighbour Iraq, a government comprising all the ethnic and religious groups of the nation. Only the Iraqis must decide on the nature of their future regime, one that we think it should not be necessarily like the one we have in Iran”, Mr. Kharrazi said in Rome.

He also, but indirectly, criticised the United States for its deals with the Mojahedeen Khalq Organisation (MKO), an armed Iranian group based in Baghdad and supported, financed and trained by the now toppled Saddam Hoseyn, dedicated to overthrow the Islamic Republic by the means of arms.

“Some western countries have a double standard as far as terrorism and terrorists are concerned. For instance, while we arrested and expelled those members of Al-Qa’eda who had entered Iran, the MKO terrorists are active in many places in the West”, he observed, without mentioning that not only American commanders in Iraq have allowed the MKO to remain in their bases in Iraq, provided to them by the Iraqi dictator, but also are using them to identify Iranian and Iraqi agents infiltrated into Iraq by the Iranian regime.

To the Chairman of the Italian Senate who had urged the Iranian visitor that Tehran should support the peace process in the Middle East, Mr. Kharrazi said though Iran is sincerely for peace and stability in the region, but it is of the opinion that the American-inspired “Road Map”, aimed at reconciling Israelis and Palestinians, does not “respond to present day conditions of the region”. ENDS IRAN US RELATIONS 8503