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Israel, Iran, and U.S. Have Secret Contacts

August 11, 2003
Radio Free Europe
Bill Samii

The public displays of mutual hostility between the governments of Israel, Iran, and the U.S. make it very difficult for any of the governments to engage in normal and open relations, regardless of any shared concerns or interests. This situation results in a lack of transparency in their relationships and necessitates secret contacts -- with at times embarrassing results, as illustrated by three recent cases.

Israel and Iran have been negotiating an exchange of prisoners since May, as reported in the 7 August edition of the Tel Aviv Russian-language daily newspaper "Novosti Nedeli." The contacts initially were an outgrowth of Tehran-Washington discussions begun in Geneva in July. According to the report, the interlocutors were a former U.S. official named Frank Andersen and a former Islamic Revolution Guards Corps officer identified as "Mohammad Khatami." Former government personnel were used in order to ensure the deniability of these official contacts. Tehran expressed a willingness to extradite Al-Qaeda's Sayf al-Adel (see above) in exchange for Mujahedin Khalq Organization leaders, but Washington rejected this offer.

Tehran then tried to get custody of the MKO personnel by involving the Israelis, "Novosti Nedeli" reported. In a meeting with an Israeli intermediary identified as "Amnon Zikhroni," Khatami said that, in exchange for MKO personnel, Iran would deport al-Adel, ensure the release of captured Israeli reserve officer Elhanan Tenenbaum, return the remains of Israeli soldiers captured by Lebanese Hizballah, and seek information on captured Israeli pilot Ron Arad. Washington again rejected the deal, according to "Novosti Nedeli," but the Iranian side insisted that the so-called "Jewish lobby" pressure the White House.

The case of Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian, and Iranian prisoners in Israel was added to in subsequent discussions. According to "Novosti Nedeli," some Israelis would like to have the U.S. release convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for al-Adel. These discussions reportedly are continuing, but Pollard's release is not open for discussion.

In another recent case, two officials from the Pentagon working for Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith held "several" meetings with notorious Iran-Contra figure Manuchehr Ghorbanifar, "Newsday" reported on 8 August, citing anonymous "administration officials." Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld confirmed later the same day that the meetings had occurred, but he said they took place more than one year ago, were part of an effort to gather information on Iran, and they had gone nowhere, Knight-Ridder reported.

The White House had not authorized the meetings, and it was only by chance that it, the State Department, and the CIA learned about them, "Newsday" reported. Rumsfeld said that information on the meetings was shared with other government agencies. According to "Newsday's" sources, the "ultimate policy objective of Feith and a group of neo-conservative civilians inside the Pentagon is regime change in Iran." Administration policy, however, is one of engagement over issues such a nonproliferation and the Al-Qaeda extraditions.

An anonymous "senior U.S. official" told Knight-Ridder that Ghorbanifar wanted to be paid for introducing the U.S. officials to Iranian moderates. Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute opened the Ghorbanifar channel, "Newsday" reported, citing a former CIA officer who learned this from current intelligence officers. Neither Ledeen nor Ghorbanifar would comment, according to "Newsday."

Israeli officials introduced Ghorbanifar to Ledeen -- who was a consultant to the National Security Council -- in the mid-1980s. Ghorbanifar claimed at the time to know Iranian moderates. This eventually would become the arms-for-hostages scandal (see Theodore Draper, "A Very Thin Line: The Iran-Contra Affairs," [New York: Hill and Wang, 1991]; see also Michael Ledeen, "Perilous Statecraft," [Scribners, 1988]).

Late on 8 August, an anonymous "senior defense official" said that another meeting with Ghorbanifar took place in Paris in June, and this one resulted from "an unplanned, unscheduled encounter," "The Washington Post" reported on 9 August.

In a different matter, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said on 7 August that President Khatami has not written a letter to any U.S. official, Fars News Agency reported. Assefi added that Iran has transparent relations with other countries and it does not need to establish secret relations with any country and, in the case of the U.S., "Over many long years, official channels have existed for regulating relations between the two countries and Iran has conveyed its views to the opposite side through these official and legal venues."

Assefi was reacting to a 6 August report in the Saudi Arabian "Al Watan" newspaper which stated that Khatami had written a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Powell calling for the continuation of the secret and official Iran-U.S. talks that are reported to have taken place in Geneva.

http://www.rferl.org/iran-report/