TEHRAN, 10 January 2004 — Iran’s influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, said yesterday US President George W. Bush’s repeated accusations against Iran had undermined a possible thaw in the decades-old enmity between the two nations.
Speaking at Friday prayers in Tehran, Rafsanjani said Tehran was encouraged by US humanitarian relief to victims of the devastating earthquake in Bam on Dec. 26 and a US proposal for a first public official visit to Iran in over two decades.
“Our initial analysis was that they wanted to pave the way for negotiations and resolving the problems,” Rafsanjani said in a sermon broadcast live on state radio. “Their main mistake was that Mr. Bush started to repeat the old allegations about Iran and weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, human rights and the Middle East conflict...
“If you want to extend a hand of friendship and a new approach, you shouldn’t repeat the old words,” said Rafsanjani.
He was referring to comments on Jan. 1 by Bush, who, while praising Tehran for allowing US humanitarian aid to be sent to the people of Bam, reiterated long-standing accusations that led him to label Iran an “axis of evil” member in 2002.
“The Iranian government must listen to the voices of those who long for freedom, must turn over Al-Qaeda (members) that are in their custody and must abandon their nuclear weapons program,” Bush said.
Washington broke ties with Iran shortly after the 1979 Revolution. US sanctions in place since 1995 prohibit US companies from investing in OPEC’s second largest oil producer or trading in Iranian oil. But US and Iranian officials have spoken recently about a willingness to resume a limited dialogue with Tehran.
Following Iran’s acceptance of aid for Bam, Washington proposed sending a humanitarian mission led by US Sen. Elizabeth Dole to Iran. Tehran declined the offer. Rafsanjani, who heads Iran’s powerful Expediency Council arbitration body, said the proposed Dole visit was “suspicious”.
Rafsanjani also said a French government plan to ban Islamic headscarves from public schools was an insult to all Muslims and hinted the move may harm France’s ties with Iran. “I hope the French government and (President Jacques) Chirac himself, as well as the French Parliament understand they have insulted one and half billion Muslims,” Rafsanjani told worshipers.
Chirac on Tuesday tried to ease concern about a planned law, which would also apply to Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, saying the move was an effort to uphold France’s commitment to keep church and state separate.
