Iran’s President Presses for Dialogue in Spain

International news agencies reported on November 4 that Spanish companies will soon sign exploration deals for $1.3 billion in Iranian oil and gas. The reports come on the heels of Iranian President Mohammed Khatami's first official visit to Spain, promoting mutual understanding on more complex issues. Khatami's visit, the first by an Iranian president since the country's 1979 revolution, addressed Spanish and European concerns about Iran's past and future as an Islamic democracy. "We developed lots of discussions on economic cooperation and on the campaign against terrorism, and also we very clearly we explained our position on the situation in the region," Khatami told EurasiaNet during a brief interview in Madrid. “I am sure this visit was the opening of new cooperation between us.”

Even before it started, Khatami's trip sparked acrimony between Iran's reformists and hard-liners. A week before he left, conservative newspapers mounted a campaign against his trip, capitalizing on the fact that European diplomatic protocol requires wine at state dinners and Khatami's status as a cleric prevents him from joining a table where people drink. The state dinner would be an affront to the President, the conservative pundits declared. To avoid an incident, the Spanish hosts canceled an official dinner at the palace of King Juan Carlos and hosted a less formal reception.

Iranian reformist newspapers then reported extensively about the president's successful trip. This type of coverage, while revealing deep divisions in Iranian government, did not hide the thorny differences between Iranian and Spanish positions on human rights, antiterrorism efforts and weapons of mass destruction. Khatami and his team reported important progress on these issues.

Nonetheless, the Iranians' work to achieve accord with Spainish (and European) leaders on human rights issues is hardly complete. "We believe in human rights. Also we have cultural values and Islamic values," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told EurasiaNet. "But I believe it is much better for the two countries to stop judging one another and start talking to each other."

Kharrazi invoked imminent talks concerning civil rights between Iranian and European officials. Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, while stating clearly that European Union officials found reports of stonings in Iran very troubling, said that dialogue at the UN and elsewhere could help both sides find common ground.

Some in Khatami's delegation voiced support for the universal concept of human rights. "The idea of Islamic human rights doesn't make sense,” said Dr. Mohammad Javad Faridzadeh, an adviser to the president. “Human rights are human rights. It does not depend on color or group or religion.”

"The majority of those [Iranians] who make a sharp distinction between human rights and Islam do so merely to hold on to power," Faridzadeh said.

For his part, Khatami told the journalists that while he may not agree with all decisions Iran's traditionalist judiciary makes, he has to abide by the rulings. Khatami also played to European protests about political prisoners by saying that he didn't want any innocent people to stay in jail. "I am against prison for them, but I believe in democracy and the constitution doesn't give me any right to interfere in the other branches of the government," said Khatami. This tactic is in line with Khatami's effort to broaden presidential power by amending the constitution. [For background, see the Eurasia Insight archives].

Delegates of the two countries also discussed a more sensitive topic: Iran's policy on weapons of mass destruction. Khatami and Kharrazi both stressed Iran's compliance with international treaties to reporters. An Iranian official who asked for anonymity told EurasiaNet that other than regular exchanges, any request to admit international weapons inspectors would be a touchy issue since many government officials might consider such inspections an intrusion on the country's sovereignty. The same observer told EurasiaNet that, given Iran's poor relations with the United States, European Union officials should recognize that other avenues besides confrontation may bear more fruit in dealing with Tehran. Khatami's team appears keen on presenting the president as a man committed to rights and democracy as well as a devout Muslim – an ideal candidate to discuss human rights and regional security.

Khatami himself cultivated this role in public appearances in Spain, repeatedly pointing to the phenomenon of democratization in Iran. "Any success of the democracy process in Iran would have enormous attraction in the other Islamic countries and would have influence to the Islamic world,” he said. He asked other countries to support the reform process in his country. "Reform is a process, not a plan,” he said. “We cannot say reform has a timetable, it is a complex cultural, social and political phenomenon."

The president also struck two themes that resonate in Europe: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the tenor of American foreign policy. He told reporters that his government would respect a two-state solution dividing Palestine from Israel if the Palestinian people seek such an arrangement. While deeming the United States a “great nation,” Khatami sharply rebuked American President George W. Bush's refusal to engage with the Iranian government.

“I would like to ask you as journalists, please, please look at America's wrongheaded policy and see whether it has made [Osama bin Laden] more popular or more hated in parts of the Islamic world? Try to find out whether America's wrong-headed policy has strengthened or weakened rationalist Islam and democratic Islam?” he said, before restating his case. “An example of democratic Islam can be seen in Iran, but we still have a long way to go before we get to our destination.”