Iran says US rapprochement unrealistic
Iran-USA, Politics, 3/20/2000

Iran welcomes export of foodstuff and carpets to the U.S. and considers it as a positive move, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told IRNA over phone on Friday, IRNA reported adding that Iran will study the US initiative towards Iran.

Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said that some progress has also been made in the context of Iran-U.S.. relations and the cultural exchange between the two nations has a significant potential to enhancing understanding and mutual concern. Replying to a US posture to try to improve relation with Iran, The Iranian diplomat said however, despite the expressed American support for people to people exchange, Iranians visiting the United States continue to be treated as common criminals at American airports by finger printing them and taking their pictures. This discriminating and degrading treatment is personally humiliating and, in the final analysis, it may prove to be a disservice to the objective of the people to people exchange the official said. Nejad-hosseinian said, "our contention is that despite the reiterated American position that it is ready for government-to-government talks, the U.S. government seems to be no more ready than the Iranian government to hold such talks," IRNA quoted him saying.

IRNA reported adding Iran views the U.S. offer of official talks as unrealistic and it stand to reason that the U.S. officials should also recognize and concur with this assessment quoting the Iranian diplomat as saying '"I believe the problem with the proposed dialogue is, at least, twofold: first is the question of trust and credibility, and the second is the question of mutual respect and equality."

Iran views the US political moves as perpetuation of past policies that are based on inequality and backed by threats, pressure and sanctions, and that Iran has managed well without the US relations which was described as "costly" to Iran.

The IRNA report said "the credibility of U.S. policy towards Iran on certain important issue areas is questionable and reinforces the existing mistrust in Iran, the Iranian envoy said adding that the U.S. selective approach to the issue of nonproliferation in the middle east and dual use technology, promoting the peace process by pledging to maintain Israel's military edge and overlooking its adverse impact on regional security, its persistence on misrepresenting Iran's nuclear energy program and other charges about the Islamic republic's alleged effort to acquire weapons of mass destruction, rather than helping to strengthen the iaea's safeguard and monitoring regime or other multilateral monitoring regimes like opcw of the chemical weapons convention which Iran does comply with, the rejection of ctbt by U.S. congress and the promotion of national and theater missile defense policies are among the issues that make the credibility of U.S. policy questionable in the eyes of the Iranians," he stressed.

Iran has in the past requested that the US release what Iran says is some 10 billion dollars in Iranian assets that the US has previously frozen.

Previous Stories:
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  Iran urges USA on opening official representation   (1/24/2000)
  Khatami: Animosity with US is due to its policy   (12/13/1999)

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