DATE=2/22/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=FUTURE US/IRAN RELATIONS
NUMBER=5-45495
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The strong showing by reformist candidates in
Iran's just-concluded parliamentary elections is being
interpreted as a resounding call for greater freedoms
after 20 years of strict Islamic rule. One question
being asked is whether the election results could lead
to better relations with the United States. V-O-A's
Nick Simeone has this report.
TEXT: Friday's elections demonstrated that a pressing
issue for most Iranian voters is relaxing some of the
restrictions of Islamic law and moving toward a
society that includes freedoms of speech, dress and
perhaps even a getting more in step with the western
world. Shirzad Bozorgmehr is the editor of Tehran's
English language newspaper "Iran News."
/// BOZORGMEHR ACT ///
The youth and women want the easing of social
restrictions on them. The general question of
how to dress, how to behave and what to aspire
to.
/// END ACT ///
But the outcome of last week's vote does not change
the fact that Iran remains a theocracy, ruled by
strict Islamic leaders, not by democrats. Any
softening of Islamic practices advocated by reformers
in the new parliament would still require the approval
of the country's conservative Islamic clerics,
including Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. So far,
hard-liners have not had much to say about the
apparent mandate for change. The question is - will
the old guard try to block reform?
/// BOZORGMEHR ACT ///
I kind of doubt that because the M-Ps (members
of parliament) are the true representatives of
the people and everybody has accepted the fact
that this was a clean and free election, so
there's no question of the representativeness of
the MPs.
/// END ACT ///
But Gary Sick is not so optimistic. The man who
played a central role on President Carter's National
Security Council during the 1979 hostage crisis
believes Iran may first have to decide whether it
wants to remain a theocracy or become a democratic
republic.
/// SICK ACT ///
The fundamental question is where does the
authority of the regime really come from? Is
the authority derived from God? Is this a
divine right, if you like? Or is this really a
system that is driven by the voice of the
people?
/// END ACT ///
Many Iranians who voted Friday are too young to
remember events that led up to the Islamic revolution
and the rupture in relations between Washington and
Tehran. And it is not likely that a parliament
dominated by reformers could by itself end the
isolation, sanctions and frequent denunciations that
the United States and Iran have been hurling at each
other for the past 20 years. But in a statement
hardly disguising Washington's interest in wanting
better ties, the Clinton administration hailed the
election results as a sign the Iranian people want
engagement with the rest of the world.
Bruce Laingen is one of the American diplomats held
hostage by Iranian militants when they seized the U-S
embassy in Tehran in 1979.
/// LAINGEN ACT ///
I would hope that quietly, out of the public
domain, we can make some probes now to see when
and to what degree that winning majority is
prepared to hopefully begin some kind of quiet
talks.
/// END ACT ///
In the past though, Washington's attempts to break the
ice (improve relations) with Iran have been rebuffed.
If there is going to be a fresh start in relations,
former Carter administration aide Gary Sick expects
Iran's reformers will have to do it in a way that the
senior Islamic clerics who still control foreign
policy will be able to accept.
/// SICK ACT ///
Relations with the United States will not be
their first priority. That will be fairly far
down on their list of things that they want to
have done and that they're not going to push
that very hard especially at the beginning.
/// END ACT ///
Iran remains on the State Department's list of nations
that sponsor terrorism. But in recent months, there
have been indications that relations might be ripe for
improvement. Although all U-S trade with Iran is
supposed to be banned, President Clinton has made
exceptions, allowing aircraft giant Boeing to sell
parts to Iran's national airline as well as the sale
of some medicine and agricultural products. (SIGNED)
NEB/NJS/JP/me
22-Feb-2000 17:39 PM EDT (22-Feb-2000 2239 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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