Iran is a force for peace

Rasoul Movahedian
The Hindu, 24 February

The U.S. must accept that Tehran has every right to a civil nuclear programme.

THE LATEST salvo of rhetoric against Iran betrays a grand design to demonise the country and trigger a new adventurism in the highly sensitive Persian Gulf region. Again and again the "Iranian threat" is invoked as part of a neocon agenda to deepen the United States' military involvement in the area. But its goal — to downgrade Iran's role in the region — is both implausible and ill-founded.

Iran, by contrast, has demonstrated throughout its history a belief in constructive engagement in international relations, at the same time as holding firm to its right to retain its important regional role. Our civilising contribution to the history of the region and the world is beyond doubt — and we are the region's largest democracy, so of course we hold influence. But that influence has never had any imperial aspiration.

Iran's national security doctrine is defensive and does not consider military might to be an instrument of foreign policy.

Iran has friendly, neighbourly, and constructive relations with all countries in the region. Neither Iranians nor Arabs wish to repeat the bitter experience of the 1980s that followed Saddam Hussein's attack.

Iran has appealed to Shia and Sunni alike to refrain from acts of violence. It condemns all atrocities in either's name. It neither interferes in the domestic affairs of Iraq nor supports violence inside Iraq.

Given that we have been the victims of Saddam's aggression, it's entirely reasonable that we try to establish security across our long common border with Iraq. But it is not Iran that has invaded and occupied Iraq. It is the U.S. and its allies. Iran has supported the elected government of Iraq and will not spare any effort that can contribute to its reconstruction, development, and security. After all, a more secure Iraq means a more secure Iran.

As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran retains the right to benefit from a civil nuclear programme.

We demonstrated our sincerity to the world by sitting at the negotiating table for more than two years and suspending all our peaceful nuclear activities to show our goodwill; the result was nothing tangible, but a plan to develop Iran's peaceful enrichment technology.

Political mischief

Last year, however, on spurious legal and technical grounds, the case was further politicised by taking it away from the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, where it belongs, and to the United Nations Security Council. Resolution 1737, passed in December, was based not on facts but on suspicion, and undermined the credibility of the Council.

Political mischief should not be played out through the Security Council, and neither bellicose talk nor military adventurism will bring a halt to Iran's peaceful nuclear enrichment programme — a programme that sits within the bounds of the non-proliferation treaty.

Any threat on the part of the U.S. Government to initiate another military conflict in the region can only trigger new crises, wildly jeopardising global security and stability. We believe in a solution through negotiation and dialogue, a dialogue that addresses concerns on both sides, and in the meantime guarantees our inalienable right to pursue peaceful nuclear energy activity.

Short-termism must not overshadow the pursuit of long-term cooperation. If the present mindset can be replaced by a mentality of constructive interaction, a mutually acceptable outcome remains a real prospect. Real impetus would come from a recognition of the rights and the role of Iran in the region and the world. We genuinely hope a new phase of unconditional and sincere negotiations will resume in that direction.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

The writer is the Iranian Ambassador in London.