'Serious review needed.' Mottaki
Photo: AP
Iran's FM slams US policy in Middle East
'These policies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and generally speaking the Middle East are mistaken policies,' Mottaki says, 'the American people need a change'
Iran's foreign minister said Friday that the United States should conduct a "serious review" of its foreign policy after the presidential election — a signal that Iran is leaving open the possibility of improved relations with Washington.
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The comments by Manouchehr Mottaki — in an interview with The Associated Press — extended no clear offer for greater dialogue and included numerous jabs about the US role in the Middle East and its global standing.
But the undertones of statements are often just as relevant in the nearly three-decade diplomatic freeze between the two nations. Mottaki's suggestion that the November election could signal a new course for US views on the Middle East could also hint that Tehran may be ready to soften its stance.
"We don't want to make a problem for the American presidential candidates, but this election is among a limited number of American presidential elections where foreign policy plays a key role," Mottaki said a day after a UN conference on Iraqi reconstruction held outside Stockholm.
"The American people need change," he added. Mottaki did not go deeper into Iran's impressions of the remaining candidates seeking the White House. But Barack Obama has expressed a willingness to open new channels with Iran — a position that has drawn fire from Republican John McCain and Obama's Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Speaking through an interpreter at the Iranian Embassy in Stockholm, Mottaki said Iran was less concerned with "parties and people" than the course of US policies after the election.
"The United States of America needs a serious review of its foreign policy toward the Middle East," he said. "These policies in ... Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and generally speaking the Middle East are mistaken policies."
The estrangement between Washington and Tehran stretch back to the seizure of the US Embassy shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. A slight thaw began following the 1997 election of reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who opened the door to greater cultural exchanges and other contacts.
But opportunities for greater breakthroughs were dashed after President Bush in 2002 included Iran as an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea. The 2005 election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad further widened the gulf with his biting rhetoric that included vows to wipe out Israel.
'A real man bites dog story'
Recently, however, chances for new outreach appear to be gaining ground in Iran — which holds presidential elections next year.
On Wednesday, Iran's parliament selected conservative Ali Larijani as speaker, boosting one of Ahmadinejad's likely challengers. Larijani, the nation's former top nuclear negotiator, is perceived as a more moderate leader who could seek less confrontation with the West.
But few expect any rapid steps to smooth relations between Washington and Tehran — whose interests and ambitions collide on many levels.
Washington has led the pressure on Iran over its nuclear program — which the West and others worry could be used to make atomic weapons. Iran says it only seeks power-generating reactors.
The United States' closest Sunni Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, also worry about the expanding influence of Shiite Iran in neighboring Iraq. Washington, meanwhile, accuses Iran of backing Shiite militias in Iraq.
But Iraq also has opened some room for contact. US and Iranian envoys have held three rounds of talks since last year on efforts to stabilize the country.
Mottaki said the next resident of the White House must break with "the mistaken and failed policies" of the Bush administration or risk a further decline of the United States' standing in the Middle East.
American politicians, he said, are spending taxpayer money to "buy the hatred of other people in other parts of the world."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey was dismissive after a reporter described Mottaki's comments.
"Gee, an Iranian foreign minister criticizing US policy. There's a real man bites dog story for you, huh?" he said.
Casey added that the "Iranian government is pursuing policies that are inimical to the interests of the Iranian people" and isolating the country from the international community by the standoff over its nuclear program.
"I would also hope that those in the Iranian government who might wish to have a more responsible leadership might also turn that mirror back up to him to take a very hard look at the unproductive, unhelpful and destabilizing policies that Iran is pursuing," he said.
On Thursday, Mottaki was among delegates from more than 90 countries and organizations who gathered to review security and economic progress in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Mottaki ignored each other at the meeting.
Rice was seen on live television snickering as Mottaki told delegates that the "the occupiers of Iraq" — the United States — were pursuing "mistaken policies" that are responsible for violence there.
