The Hindu : Rafsanjani's son held talks with U.S.?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 23, 2002

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International

Rafsanjani's son held talks with U.S.?

By Kesava Menon

Manama (Bahrain) May 22. A report that the son and a senior aide of the former Iranian President, Hashemi Rafsanjani, held secret parleys with U.S. officials has set off a major political furore in Iran.

The Intelligence Ministry, which was ordered to investigate the report, has said that no such meeting took place but reformist members of parliament who first raked up the issue have rejected the Ministry's denials. If Iran's internal and external situations are taken into consideration the rumour does not appear to be entirely devoid of substance. Iranian newspapers have alleged that Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani and Hussein Mousavian, the former President's son and senior adviser on foreign affairs respectively, held talks with U.S. State Department officials in Cyprus.

Mr. Rafsanjani's office denied the allegations and challenged those who levelled them to produce proof. Reformist members of parliament wanted an investigation into the issue and the President, Mohammed Khatami, ordered the Intelligence Ministry to conduct a probe. While the Intelligence Minister, Ali Yunesi, declared that the charges were unsubstantiated, parliamentarians insisted that such a meeting did indeed take place. If there were any substance in the story, then the meeting would have been held in apparent defiance of Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei, who regularly denounces the "Great Satan" and forbids Iranians from opening direct talks with U.S. representatives.

Reformists who have called for a new approach to the U.S. and tried to initiate a dialogue have been pilloried and had to face trial. But Mr. Rafsanjani too has in the past, albeit in a cautious and roundabout manner, called for a new approach to the U.S. but without being subjected to similar rebukes.

In the past, Iranian reformists have alleged that secret negotiations did take place and demanded that they be brought out into the open.

Diplomatic observers in Iran too hold the opinion that the conservatives — a camp to which both Mr. Khamenei and Mr. Rafsanjani belong — are not ally opposed to dealings with the U.S. provided that they, and not the reformers headed by Mr. Khatami, are the main conduits.

Mr. Rafsanjani is known for his pragmatism. Although he fared poorly in the last elections, and is possibly the least popular of the leading Iranian figures, he remains a powerful influence within government and clerics.

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