Swiss ambassador in Washington as US-Iran liason [Something up?]

The Swiss ambassador to Iran, Tim Guldimann, is in Washington this week amid signs of a growing rapprochement between the Islamic state and the West.

Behind the scenes, the Swiss embassy in Tehran has been building bridges, acting as a go-between for Iran and the United States, which severed diplomatic relations after the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Iran was quick to condemn the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and both Iran and neighbouring Afghanistan have been at loggerheads for some time.

The Swiss efforts are among several diplomatic missions taking place in Iran. The British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, meanwhile, arrived in the capital Tehran on Monday in an effort to enlist President Khatami’s support for an international anti-terrorist alliance.

The killings of six Iranian diplomats by Taliban forces almost led to war three years ago, and Khatami’s government has been angered by the oppression of the Shi’ite Muslim minority in western Afghanistan.

According to media reports, a letter from Washington has already been passed to the Iran government via the Swiss embassy in Tehran. However both the ambassador and the foreign ministry have refused to comment on the embassy’s role, arguing that the situation is too delicate.

Professor Albert Stahel, a political scientist at the University of Zurich, believes Washington currently has two reasons for using the Swiss embassy to act as a go-between for the two countries.

“The United States wants Tehran to open its airspace for American aircraft because they need it if they want to launch operations against Afghanistan,” he told swissinfo. “In the longer term, perhaps, the United States is also interested in having a better relationship with Iran.”

According to Stahel, Switzerland is fortunate to have one of the country’s “best diplomats” running the embassy in Tehran. Guldimann is no stranger to difficult situations, having previously headed Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) missions to Croatia and Chechnya.

Guldimann helped to broker the peace deal that ended the first war in Chechnya and oversaw the country’s first multi-party and presidential elections in 1997. He then moved on to Croatia before taking up his present post in the summer of 1999.

As Stahel pointed out, the 50-year-old ambassador, who speaks around a dozen languages, including Russian and Arabic, will be well aware of the need to act as a liaison between Iran and the US and not become involved politically.

“We have always had a good relationship with Tehran,” he said. “We have had no problems because we were not involved in any of the problems other states had in the past with Tehran. Politically, it is certainly one of the best relationships when compared to other countries.”

Iran is not the only country where Switzerland represents the interests of the United States: the Swiss embassy in Havana houses a US interests section.

Like most others here, I definitely feel uneasy about the thought of becoming "friends" again with the Iranians. The images of our diplomats being paraded blindfolded before the cameras still seems as fresh in my mind as if it were yesterday.

However, contrary to what some might think, the Islamic world is NOT monolithic. There is a reason why they are split into a bunch of countries. OBL and his thugs would love to change that, to bring them altogether into a grand alliance against we "infidels." It is definitely in our interest that this NOT be allowed to happen, but rather that divisions within the Islamic world should be perpetuated and even exacerbated. This may very well mean playing Islamic countries off against one another, and shifting alliances back and forth.

A British stateman (Disraeli?) said over a century ago: "Britain does not have permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests." That must apply to the US as well.

Hm, looks like someone is trying to mend their ways. Fine, it saves us lots of trouble later if they straighten up and fly right.

NaW.
(They were near the bottom of the list anyway...)

A Western-Iranian alliance drives a wedge right down the middle of the "Iron Veil" bloc. (If anyone here is old enough to remember the phrase, "The Iron Curtain," you'll "get" the analogy.) This wedge is both political AND geographic, and is very important. I trust the Swiss to know what they are doing.

This has been in the works really since 1997, and a closer tie is in everyone's best interest.Power politics doesn't mean a full endorsement of a regime, only the neccessity to exercise what leverage a country has in balancing competing forces in a region.Iran is attempting, very slowly, to get back into the sphere of acceptable nations.This is a good first step.

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