Iranian
lawmakers: Is the hard-line tide really turning in Tehran?
Baztab News, Islamic Republic of Iran
Iranian Lawmakers Sound Off on Talks With Washington
"Is the Iranian regime preparing for a rapprochement with
the United States? According to this
article from Iran's Baztab News, members of Iran's Parliament, the
Majlis, appear overwhelmingly for some kind of talks, while an unspecified
number favor creating a 'Parliamentary friendship group with U.S. congressmen.' The Baztab News is run by a former member of Iran's Expediency
Council, which is chaired by former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who favors talks with the U.S.
May 16, 2007
Islamic Republic of Iran - Baztab News - Original Article (English)
Iran has officially agreed
to Washington's request to hold direct talks over Iraq. In interviews with the
Mehr News Agency, some lawmakers welcomed the decision, other criticized it,
and still others said that the talks must not only benefit the United States, but must bring
tangible results for Iran.
Conservative MP Shokrollah Attarzadeh calls the opening of a
dialogue with the U.S. a “wise decision” and
a “victory” for the current government.
“Opening the door to negotiations with the United States is a victory for the
ninth (Ahmadinejad) administration. It demonstrates the courage and bravery of
the government,” the MP who represents Bushehr pointed out. [Bushehr is the
city where Iran's key nuclear
facility is located].
“Since the Quran and Islam enjoin us to "dialogue and healthy
debate," we should not fear dialogue and should assert our position clearly
and forcefully,” he added.
Another conservative MP from the ruling faction, Mohammad-Reza
Mirtajedini, argues that the announcement that Tehran is ready to hold
talks with Washington and review its ties
with Egypt “indicates a new
determination by Iran to expand its
diplomatic relations.”
“In the modern world, relations between countries have special
complexities. The conditions for opening negotiations are not fixed and depends
on the circumstances. For this reason, one should not expect a lack of
relations with certain countries to be a permanent and everlasting condition,”
Mirtajedini said.
Mirtajedini also noted that just the fact that the sides are
talking about talks has led members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and other
Arab states to have an “inclination” toward Iran. But he added that
this doesn't mean that negotiations will lead to formal relations between Iran and the U.S.
MP Abbas-Ali Akhtari said that negotiating with the United States under current
circumstances would only benefit Washington. According to Akhtari, Iran should “condition
talks on the removal of Iran’s nuclear dossier
from the U.N. Security Council and the recognition of Iran’s inalienable right
to nuclear technology.”
MP Mohammad-Hassan Qafuri-Fard, who represents Tehran, criticized the
government’s decision to hold talks calling it a “mistake.”
Qafuri-Fard, the former conservative presidential candidate,
argues that as long as Washington continues its hostile
activity toward Iran, there is no reason to
hold talks. According to him, there remains no indication that Washington has altered its
“arrogant nature.”
According to Qafuri-Fard, the decision was a mistake, and those
who have taken such a decision should explain why they have done so. “At this point
in time, there is nothing good or expedient in negotiating with the United States,” Qafuri-Fard noted.
The chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy
Committee, Alaeddin Borujerdi, maintains that the situation is not yet ripe for
talks, and that those lawmakers who are pushing for a parliamentary friendship
group with U.S. congressmen must be
unaware of ongoing American actions against Iran.
“These representatives probably don’t have information about the
hostile actions being taken by the United States against Iran,” he told reporters.
“Future talks between Iran and the United States will be limited to Iraq. The other problems
between Iran and the United States will have no place in
these negotiations. If it were otherwise, the United States would take new
hostile steps.”
He cited, "repeated sanctions, the attack on Iran’s official consulate
in Iraq and the detention of
Iranian diplomats” who were in the consulate, as some hostile acts already
taken by the United States.
Sabah Zanganeh, an expert on international relations, said that Iran should not limit the
talks to Iraq because in that case,
because only Washington would benefit from
them, since they would center exclusively on how Iran could use its
influence to lesson America's problems there.
Read Also:
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Favor Renewed Contact With Americans
E'etemad, Islamic Republic
of Iran
http://WORLDMEETS.US/eetemad000002.shtml
