Iranian Parliament OKs Moderates

In a development that surprised U.S. officials and foreign policy experts, Iran’s parliament on Wednesday approved all 22 of new President Mohammad Khatami’s controversial Cabinet appointees--even those believed to favor dialogue with the United States.

The confirmations suggest that Khatami now has far wider latitude to change the rigid domestic practices and xenophobic foreign policies that have prevailed since Iran’s 1979 revolution, some of the analysts say.

“This absolutely changes the internal dynamics,” said Kenneth Katzman, a Mideast specialist at Congressional Research Service and a former CIA and congressional analyst. Now that “the conservative bloc in parliament is no longer the threat it had been,” the liberalization that has begun to develop in Iranian politics will “be accomplished,” he said.

But State Department spokesman James P. Rubin sounded a more cautious note. “To the extent that the election of President Khatami and the approval of his Cabinet indicate that the will and welfare of the people of Iran will be reflected by its government, we would welcome that,” Rubin told reporters.

But “what we need to see in Iran,” he added, “are actions.”

The sentiment was echoed by a senior Clinton administration official.

“On the issue of terrorism, it’s business as usual so far,” the official said. “There’s been no change in the pattern of close coordination with Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Hezbollah since [Khatami’s inauguration] Aug. 4.”

On Tuesday, President Clinton signed an executive order that tightened sanctions against Iran and Libya.

Iran’s 270-seat Majlis, or parliament, approved even Khatami’s most contentious appointment by almost 50 votes, indicating that it may no longer be a significant obstacle to reform efforts, according to Steve Fairbanks, a senior State Department analyst on leave at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.

“Khatami’s [Cabinet] choices are quite striking,” Katzman said. “They are people who are willing to consider new ideas, including new directions in foreign policy. They are people who want better state-to-state relations and who do not automatically eliminate the idea of improved relations with the United States.”

“The fact they were all approved gives [Khatami] a lot of flexibility,” he added.

Khatami, whose surprise landslide victory in May marked a turning point in Iran’s turbulent political history, made an eloquent hourlong appeal for approval of his nominees, calling on the Majlis deputies to “admit that differences of opinion exist” and to use them to enrich rather than restrict social progress.

The most striking part of the two-day debate was the pivotal test case of Ataollah Mohajerani, the designated minister of culture and Islamic guidance.

Mohajerani was grilled on his call in 1990 for a dialogue with the United States and on whether he supported the death sentence for controversial “Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie. He also was rebuked for suggesting reforms that hard-line members of parliament labeled “a Western cultural invasion.”

In a 45-minute statement to parliament, Mohajerani hedged his replies. He said he had spent “40 sleepless nights” writing a critique of Rushdie’s book, and he acknowledged earlier opposition to relations with the U.S. by top leaders.

But he also boldly said he opposed almost all of the culture ministry’s practices, and called for tolerance at all levels of society and government. He specifically condemned burning bookshops, beating university lecturers and attacking magazine offices.

“We have to create an atmosphere where all citizens can express their ideas. Islam is not a narrow, dark alley. Everybody can walk freely in the path of Islam,” Mohajerani told a hushed chamber. “We have to protect artists and provide an atmosphere for creativity, tranquillity and freedom.”

Mohajerani, who pledged to end the culture ministry’s days as a “laughing matter,” is widely expected to pursue the kind of liberal policies Khatami initiated in that job before he was purged by parliament in the early 1990s.

“Under Mohajerani, press freedoms are going to be expanded considerably,” Fairbanks predicted. “That goes hand in hand with Khatami’s call for development of political parties, which will encourage pluralism. This will change the whole political landscape.”

Of the 22 Cabinet posts, the culture ministry is one of two with the broadest influence on daily life. The other is the Interior Ministry, which oversees internal security, Iran’s Islamic social code and local and provincial governments.

The confirmation of Abdollah Nouri to that post had been considered endangered because of questions about his loyalty to parliament as well as to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Conventional wisdom is that foreign policy is not Khatami’s thing. But that’s not borne out. . . . He’s often said Iran needs to learn from the West and that Iran needs to be a good partner and good neighbor,” said Gary Sick, a member of the National Security Council during the Carter administration who teaches at Columbia University.

“Those are much better indications of what he intends to do long term--tamping down involvement in terrorism, a low-key role on confrontational issues and conciliatory arrangements with the Persian Gulf states,” Sick added.