Hoisting Old Glory in Tehran

An American flag is being displayed ceremonially in Tehran this week for the first time since the U.S. Embassy was seized by Islamic radicals in November1979. The occasion--a wrestling tournament to which a U.S. team has been invited--is about as far removed from the world of diplomacy as it’s possible to get, but the political symbolism of the event is not lost on anyone, least of all Iran’s most vocal America-haters. A member of parliament named Mohammad-Reza Faker lamented to colleagues that to raise the American flag in the wrestling arena is to “rub in our noses that which we used to trample underfoot only last year.” His reference to former happier circumstances won approving chants of “death to America” from people who are comfortable around a U.S. flag only when a match is being applied to it.

The arrival this week of the American wrestlers was the first tangible move toward opening a “crack in the wall of mistrust” between the United States and Iran that moderate President Mohammad Khatami called for in an interview with CNN last month. More Americans are expected in Tehran next week to take part in an academic conference on the Persian Gulf. Khatami himself, who wields less power than Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s spiritual leader, has said the time is not ripe for true diplomatic exchanges. Washington shares that view, with the Clinton administration noting that relations are unlikely to improve significantly so long as Iran pursues policies inimical to U.S. interests.

Nonetheless, a first small crack in the wall is now visible. When the American wrestlers entered the arena holding the Stars and Stripes, the applause they received was second only to that given the Iranian team. And on its late night report, state television respectfully and without comment showed the American flag. The game of diplomacy very often turns on signals and nuances, on hints and gestures and winks and nods. So let the game begin.