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An opportunity for Iran

ON THE basis of what was termed as “the diplomacy in times of disasters”, warmness crawls into the cold atmosphere of US-Iran relations following the urgent aid sent by Washington to the victims of the devastating earthquake that flattened Iran’s historic city of Bam last week, and claimed over 30,000 lives.

Although Iranian President Mohammed Khatami did not show any great enthusiasm or give a quick response to the statement of US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the possibility of a dialogue between Washington and Teheran, the Iranian side cannot miss this opportunity, irrespective of Khatami’s cautious response. Iran is aware that Europe too is standing behind the US in the campaign to stop Iran’s nuclear programme and the American forces are having a strong presence now in two bordering countries, namely Afghanistan and Iraq. Moreover, the positive signs in the relations between Libya, the US and Europe after Tripoli’s announcement renouncing its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programme will prompt calls for more openness on the part of Iran. This will be the right opportunity for Iran to mend its ties with America for the benefit of its own people. It must be noted that no major issues or cause of enmity stand in the way of improving the relations between the two countries that cannot be overcome. In my opinion, the US is also keen on freezing, at the worst, the Iranian file, because of the instability in Iraq so far and the interest of the US in settling the North Korean issue due to the concern voiced by the two US allies in east Asia (Japan and South Korea ) towards that issue. Once normalcy is restored in the relations between Teheran and Washington, the sanctions imposed by the US will be withdrawn. This will benefit Iran’s economy, and promote overall development.