Tracking Number: 140805
Title: "Bush Hopes to Improve Relations with Iran." Portions of President's interview for French television. (900525)
Date: 19900525
Text:
*NEA515
05/25/90 * BUSH HOPES TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH IRAN (Excerpt: Interview on French TV, 5/24/90) (300)
Washington -- President Bush said he is hopeful some day to have better relations with Iran.
In an interview for French television, Bush indicated that he bases his optimism on Iranian President Rafsanjani, who "is showing a sense of reasonableness in some areas that perhaps his predecessor didn't feel he could show, or didn't feel like showing."
Bush also said, in response to question, that extreme fundamentalism concerns him more than communism.
Following is an excerpt from the interview:
(BEGIN EXCERPT)
Q: What would you fear most today, Mr. President, communism or the growing of Muslim fundamentalism?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I haven't thought about that in terms of priorities. Communism is on the wane, it's on the way out. In our hemisphere, there's only one left, and that's Castro. And I don't know what he believes because he -- but he darn sure can't be excited about the way things are going for good, old communists; going down the drain. And so -- and I think when you see people have a free choice, nobody's speaking up, hey, I want to have a communist government. It just isn't happening. And so I don't fear communism at all.
I don't like that ideology and so I worry about that. But in terms of Muslim fundamentalism, the real extremes there, I am concerned about that. We lived through a terrible time in Iran. We still have difficulties there. But I'm hopeful some day we can have better relations. Because I think Mr. Rafsanjani is showing a sense of reasonableness in some areas that perhaps his predecessor didn't feel he could show, or didn't feel like showing.
So I worry about this problem.
(END EXCERPT)
NNNN
File Identification: 05/25/90, NE-515; 05/25/90, NA-508
Product Name: Wireless File
Product Code: WF
Languages: Arabic
Keywords: BUSH,
GEORGE/Foreign Relations: Near East & South Asia; IRAN-US RELATIONS/Policy; ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM; RAFSANJANI, HOJATOLESLAM HASHEMI
Document Type: EXC; INT
Thematic Codes: 160
Target
Areas: NE
PDQ Text Link: 140805
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