[Marxism] Iran's President Hints at Hope for Defusing Crisis (NYT

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(There's a terrific formal photo of the Iranian president at
the NY Times website.)
============================================================

June 17, 2006
Iran's President Hints at Hope for Defusing Crisis
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/17/world/asia/17china.html

SHANGHAI, June 16 - Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said
Friday that his country was seriously considering an international
proposal to resolve the dispute over its uranium enrichment program.

Mr. Ahmadinejad's vague but conciliatory remarks, made here at the
end of an Asian summit meeting, came with veiled taunts of the United
States and statements of solidarity with China and Russia, the
leading powers in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the regional
group that convened the gathering.

"My colleagues are carefully considering the package of proposals of
the six countries, and in due time they will give them a response,"
Mr. Ahmadinejad said. At another point in a news conference, he said,
"Generally we regard the offering of this package as a step forward,"
adding that his country "supports constructive talks on the basis of
equality."

The proposal was put forth this month by the five permanent members
of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany, and offers Iran
incentives to freeze its nuclear activities. Mr. Ahmadinejad's visit
here has put the spotlight on the diplomatic importance of China and
Russia, Security Council members that have resisted sanctions as a
means of resolving the crisis.

Although the details of their talks were not disclosed, the leaders
of China and Russia are thought to have urged Iran to embrace the
six-party proposal. Both China, as the host, and Russia, a co-founder
of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, have appeared eager for a
successful meeting here that would increase the prestige of the
five-year-old body.

This may help explain the restrained, even studied language of Mr.
Ahmadinejad, whose country is a candidate for membership but whose
oratory can be inflammatory.

Although his repeated references to the United States were
unmistakable, he never named his designated nemesis. "Some countries
create problems for other countries and make the impression that
these are problems for the entire international community," Mr.
Ahmadinejad said. "Actually they are making problems for themselves."

In Washington, the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, sought
to play down Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement. "I'm not going to try to
comment on the various rhetoric coming out of Tehran or elsewhere
concerning Iran's thoughts on the proposal in public," he said. "As I
said before, we're going to wait for the formal response."

In his remarks Friday, Mr. Ahmadinejad repeated his denials that Iran
is developing nuclear weapons, referring regularly to the "Islamic
Republic of Iran's peaceful nuclear program."

Mr. Ahmadinejad, who has often questioned the reality of the
Holocaust, said again that the history should be "investigated by
impartial and independent experts," and added that the Palestinians
should not be made victims because of events in European history. He
concluded his remarks on this subject, however, by saying, "There are
no differences between Jews, Christians and Muslims."

Asked if he were concerned about the possibility of an Israeli attack
on his country's uranium enrichment plants, similar to Israel's
aerial attack on the Osirak nuclear plant near Baghdad in 1981, Mr.
Ahmadinejad brushed the question off with a quick "No." Moments
later, he added that Iran had the means to defend itself, but offered
no details.

Iran's status as an observer and candidate for membership poses
delicate questions for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which
has six members: China, Russia and four former Soviet republics,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. China is in the
midst of a carefully measured bid to increase its diplomatic clout
without alarming the United States or others, from Europe to India.

At times, Mr. Ahmadinejad's language flirted with formulations that
Beijing has studiously avoided, which would cast the group as a rival
or counterweight to the West and to alliances like NATO.

Mr. Ahmadinejad said pointedly that if all the observer states became
members, the organization would represent more than half of the
world's population, and he urged the group to "ward off the threats
of domineering powers to use their force against and interfere in the
affairs of other states."

He added, "I believe we should remove the word sanctions from the
political literature of the world."

China, too, has consistently opposed sanctions as a tool of
international relations, and helped engineer a joint declaration at
the end of the talks here. The declaration said, "Differences in
cultural traditions, political and social systems, values and models
of development formed in the course of history should not be taken as
pretexts to interfere in other countries' internal affairs."

But if the membership swells without addressing the problem of
nuclear proliferation, it could face problems on two fronts.

On the one hand, the credibility of an approach that renounces
sanctions and the use of force will be severely weakened, along with
China's diplomatic prestige. On the other, if the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization emerges as a group whose highest principle
is the right of states to do what they wish without outside
interference, China and Russia could both eventually face the
nightmare of a nuclear-armed Central Asia.

"One example of our being a responsible stakeholder is speaking to
Iran and asking Iran to respect I.A.E.A. commitments, to make sure
that it meets its obligations," said Shen Dingli, a specialist in
international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai. He referred
to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Beyond that, while Mr. Ahmadinejad repeatedly stressed Iran's
diplomatic closeness with China and Russia, calling China's leader,
Hu Jintao, "my very good friend," he also repeatedly invoked the
importance of religion, or what he called "spirituality." China and
Russia have had problems with Muslim minorities and would be loath to
see the spread of militant Islam in the region.


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