Posted on 05/12/2003 5:16:42 PM PDT by blam
US and Iran hold secret talks after 23 years of hostility
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
13 May 2003
The United States and Iran have held secret talks that could have an important bearing on the interlocking problems of Afghanistan, the future government of Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Though Bush administration officials denied yesterday the dialogue could lead to a normalisation of relations, senior representatives of the two countries have had three rounds of talks this year.
The next session is due next week in Geneva – technically under the auspices of the United Nations, but in practice they are bilateral discussions between the Iranians and an American team led by Zalmay Khalilzad, President George Bush's special envoy for Afghanistan and Iraq.
The contacts were disclosed as the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, began a historic visit to Beirut. He was expected to make a nod in the direction of one important demand by Washington – for Hizbollah guerrillas, who operate from Lebanon and are backed by Tehran, to rein in attacks on Israeli-occupied territories.
In oblique confirmation of Iran's desire to lower the temperature with the US, Rafik al-Hariri, the Lebanese Prime Minister, declared after talks with Mr Khatami yesterday that neither wanted to inflame tensions in the region, and would press for a diplomatic solution. "We still have in Lebanon part of our land occupied, the Syrians have the Golan Heights. All these need to be solved," Mr Hariri said, referring to the Shebaa farms and to the territory Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.
President Khatami is the first Iranian leader since the 1979 Islamic revolution to visit Lebanon, which with Syria was put under intense pressure this month by Colin Powell, the visiting American Secretary of State, to curb Hizbollah attacks on Israel, as Washington tries to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Having witnessed how swiftly US forces toppled Saddam Hussein, Iran may now be inclined to take steps to avoid meeting a similar fate – even though Washington insists it plans no further military campaigns in the region. But the US also badly needs the co- operation, or at least non- intervention, of Iran as it tries to construct a secular government in Iraq in which the role of Iranian-backed Shia clerics is kept under control. Only last week, Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defence, warned that Washington would not allow Iraq to become another theocratic Islamic state, along the lines of Iran.
In a gesture plainly intended to win Tehran's support, the US has begun to disarm the Iraq-based Mujadehin al-Khalq group, a vociferous opponent of Iran's Islamic government.
Even so, Condoleezza Rice, the White House National Security Adviser, insisted yesterday the contacts were not a prelude to a restoration of diplomatic relations with Iran. The talks had focused on "practical issues" concerning Iraq and Afghanistan, she said.
They also offer another opportunity for America to express its concerns over Iran's nuclear programme. But, as with North Korea, the Bush administration is divided on how to proceed, with one faction advocating conciliation, while hardliners want Mr Bush to designate Iran the next target for "regime change".
I don't know but, things are starting to 'shake' after the 'hot' war in Iraq.
Did I say "Perfect Timing?"
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