A devil of a dilemma over the 'Great Satan'

By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
Knight Ridder Newspapers

	HENGHAMEH FAHIMI / AFP/GETTY IMAGES An Iranian woman walks past a poster depicting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, and his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of Iran's Islamic republic.
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TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's leaders are caught between the need to end a quarter-century of political and economic isolation and an imperative to stay true to their revolutionary ideals, which require antipathy toward the United States.

They can't make up their minds. Hints at improving relations with the United States repeatedly give fuel to the powerful anti-Western philosophy that drove the 1979 revolution and prompts retreat to the familiar comfort of lambasting the United States, described by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as the "Great Satan."

Iran has plenty of advocates of better ties with the United States, but they are nervous about exposing themselves to political attack by appearing too willing to engage the enemy. That is especially true now as reformers fight a losing battle for power with hard-line clerics.

For years, Iran's Islamic government has sent mixed signals, allowing subtle signs of détente with its sworn enemy.

In the former U.S. Embassy compound — turned into a museum to showcase contempt for America — most of the propaganda displays against the "Great Satan," built by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, have given way to exhibitions of Iranian engineering achievements.

But a wooden sign in the former embassy's entry hall, where students took diplomats hostage in 1979, reflects the face of Iranian policy toward the United States: "Relationship or negotiations with the U.S. government is against our national interest."

The United States faces difficult choices. Should it even try to engage moderate political leaders who have little power and who could be undermined by appearing too close to the enemy? The United States would like Iran to end support for Middle East groups that back terror, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas, and turn back from a suspected nuclear-weapons program. State Department officials are pessimistic about making any progress soon and fear even reformers would support a nuclear-weapons program.

Analysts say Iran's ruling clerics prefer to pursue any relations with the United States in secret and on their terms. Unwilling to allow reformers to take the initiative, they are quick to denounce them as "lackeys of America."

Fearing this kind of backlash, President Mohammad Khatami's reformist government quickly dismissed a recent announcement by U.S. lawmakers that Iran's ambassador to the United Nations had invited U.S. congressional aides to visit Tehran this month. It also rejected the Bush administration's offer to send a high-profile humanitarian delegation headed by Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and a member of the Bush family to Iran after the Bam earthquake, which killed 43,000 people Dec. 26.
 
The conservative ruling clerics justified a ban on liberal candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections in part by accusing them of trying to improve ties with the United States.

Nonetheless, supporters of Iran's unelected ruling clerics, who routinely denounce American foreign policy, say conservative leaders are softening their opposition to U.S. ties.

"Between those who are not in love with each other, there can be relations, too," said Amir Mohebian, the political editor of the conservative daily newspaper Resalat, or Prophecy. "Relations that are based on mutual interests can be stronger than any other relations."

Reformers such as Hamid Reza Jalaipour are optimistic that a semi-official U.S. delegation will be invited to Iran soon after the elections. Iran hosted Prince Charles yesterday, the first visit by a British royal in three decades.

With Iran's economy in shambles and its people weary of isolation, the country's rulers need to reach out to the world's wealthiest nation for relief, analysts say. Added Jalaipour: "Our conservatives need America."

But maybe not right away. Major obstacles have derailed several attempts to resume contacts dating back to the secret arms-for-hostages swap in the 1980s.

And it may be years before ruling clerics can overlook President Bush's 2002 State of the Union address, in which he named Iran a member of the "axis of evil," effectively making regime change, not rapprochement, his administration's Iran policy.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company