LONDON, 11 February 2004 — Clarence House may insist that Prince Charles went to Iran solely in his capacity as patron of the British Red Cross and with no political intent.

But no public figure — still less the heir to the throne — can visit Iran these days without conveying a political message. Everyone involved in this visit, from the Palace through the Foreign Office to the Ministry of Defense, and their Iranian counterparts, knows that full well.

Similarly, the prince’s brief stopover in Tehran could be seen as mere protocol, a necessary courtesy before the flight to earthquake-stricken Bam and the humanitarian focus of the visit.

Coinciding as it did with the 25th anniversary of the late Shah’s enforced exile, however, the meeting with President Khatami suggests a diplomatic mission of extreme sensitivity.

For two years now, Britain has pioneered a sometimes lonely policy of rapprochement with Iran, despite periodic rebuffs and hitches. The prince’s visit takes the London-Tehran rapprochement a stage further, while opening up more distance between London and Washington.

When President Bush dubbed Iran one component of its “axis of evil”, Britain persisted in trying to start a dialogue. An early reward was Iran’s pledge, late last year, to comply with international rules on nuclear non-proliferation. When Washington then depicted Iran’s promise of compliance as a lesson drawn from the application of military force in Iraq, British officials stressed instead the benefits of dialogue.

As evidence of improving relations with Iran, the prince’s visit would be thoroughly praiseworthy, were it not for one regrettable fact.

In the continuing skirmishes between reformist and conservative clerics in the Iranian leadership, the conservatives recently secured a victory: the disqualification of a majority of reformist candidates from the coming parliamentary elections.

The risk is that some may interpret Prince Charles’s visit as an endorsement of this disgraceful state of affairs.

All those associated with the prince’s visit must make absolutely clear that this is not so.