Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=7/23/2002

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=U-S / IRAN

NUMBER=5-52012

BYLINE=GARY THOMAS

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S policy towards Iran has been thrown into a state of confusion. One published report suggests that the Bush administration is taking a new, hard-line approach to the Tehran government. However, administration officials are saying something quite different at least in public. V-O-A correspondent Gary Thomas reports.

TEXT: A leak to a respected newspaper and subsequent denials by senior U-S officials have underscored the conflicts within the Bush Administration about how to deal with Iran.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that, in a major policy change, the Bush administration has abandoned any hope of working with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and his reformist allies. The report quotes unnamed administration officials as describing Mr. Khatami as ineffectual and insincere about reform, and that the United States would appeal directly to the Iranian people to encourage change.

But, only hours after the story was printed, White House and State Department officials appeared to deny it, saying the United States would continue to look for ways of working with Iranian officials when and where it was appropriate.

The Washington Post says an official of the U-S National Security Council, Zalmay Khalizad, appeared on a V-O-A Farsi Service television show to promote the policy change. But, in the interview, Mr. Khalizad specifically said the United States is willing have official discussions -- but not unofficial talks -- with Iranian officials.

// KHALIZAD FARSI ACT, EST AND FADE //

Anthony Cordesman of the non-governmental Center for Strategic and International Studies says that while there is official U-S impatience with the pace of Mr. Khatami's policies, there is still no apparent policy shift.

// CORDESMAN ACT //

What you may have is a set of policies that recognize the weakness of the Khatami faction and the growing public, I think, dissatisfaction with its ability to move forward, to accomplish anything in the face of Iran's religious leaders and hard-liners. But that is very different from making some kind of formal declaration that no kind of dialogue is possible and that you should concentrate on trying to deal directly with the Iranian people.

// END ACT //

President Khatami who was elected in 1997 and re-elected last year has been widely viewed as a moderate more open to reform. But his efforts have often been stymied by hard-liners who reject reform, particularly rapprochement with the country they regard as "the Great Satan."

Debate has raged not only in the Bush administration, but also in the preceding Clinton administration, about how to deal with Mr. Khatami. As Mr. Cordesman points out, there are sharp differences between moderates and hard-liners in the United States as well as in Iran.

// CORDESMAN ACT TWO//

There is a division here, I think, in policy that is certainly represented among various experts. But I would be very careful about neatly labeling battles between the State Department, the Pentagon and the President. This is a President who has clearly shown he is in charge. And if there were such battles, I suspect they would be resolved very quickly in favor of President Bush.

// END ACT //

Mr. Bush has labeled Iran as part of a so-called "axis of evil" that includes Iraq and North Korea. On July 12th, Mr. Bush issued a statement that accused unelected people of carrying out what he called "uncompromising, destructive policies" that have done little to change Iranians' daily lives.

Although the statement went virtually unnoticed in the United States, it drew close attention in Iran, where it was denounced by both Mr. Khatami and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as interference in Iranian affairs. (signed)

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