U.S. Overtures to Iran

In his article “Iran Is Ripe for a Peaceful Overture” (Commentary, Nov. 17), Gary Sick tries hard to pass off one of his threadbare theories under the new label of “lessons from North Korea.” Several points are in order.

There is no need to recommend a policy of appeasing Khomeini’s regime to the State Department, since the department has been pursuing this line for the past decade. Need I remind Sick of the Irangate debacle? It is no coincidence that Sick nominates Robert Pelletreau, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, as best suited to open a dialogue with Iran.

Sick failed to mention his voluminous works about ferreting out a moderate mullah, only to be embarrassed each time when Hashemi Rafsanjani resurfaced at the top of the Iranian regime’s network of international terrorism.

The problem has never been the U.S.’ reluctance to hear about Iran’s security concerns. The real problems are the mullahs’ lack of interest and ability to change their domestic or foreign behavior, ruling out dialogue with the U.S., and the U.S.’ dogged policy of accommodating Tehran. This approach has only encouraged Tehran to persist in its threats, aggression and terrorism.

In October the State Department’s Near East Bureau, headed by Pelletreau, released a biased report about the People’s Moujahedeen of Iran, contradicting a congressional mandate and public opinion, which strongly criticized it. The Tehran Times daily, which reflects Rafsanjani’s views, praised the State Department report.

Five days later, Tehran brought out its Scud-B missiles for the first time since the Iran-Iraq War, firing off three from Kermanshah province, across the international border, at a moujahedeen base in Iraq. Three days later, Rafsanjani appeared in Kermanshah, and Iranian fighter jets bombed the bases of Iranian Kurds in Iraq’s no-fly zone.

According to the Khomeini regime’s representative to the United Nations, the missile attack was carried out in self-defense, to address “Iran’s security concerns.” Although there was no U.S. reaction to either violation, Sick’s hypothesis did not pan out, and the mullahs called for President Clinton’s death on Nov. 20.

Iran’s ruling regime is engulfed in crises. The New York Times reported that inflation is fueling discontent (Nov. 20), and other U.S. media have reported major uprisings in the cities of Qazvin, Tabriz and Qa’emshahr.

What Iran is ripe for is change toward democracy, not overtures for friendly ties which will never materialize.

MASOUD BANISADR

U.S. Representative

National Council of Resistance of Iran

Washington