Iranians Want to Talk to U.S. Congress

ALI AKBAR DAREINI
AP
Tuesday May 15, 2007

TEHRAN, Iran -- A group of Iranian lawmakers wants to create a "friendship committee" that would open contacts with the U.S. Congress -- an unprecedented attempt to build ties at a time when Iran's hard-line leadership also appears willing to talk with the country's No. 1 enemy.

Proponents hope the effort, for which they were gathering petition signatures Tuesday, will be condoned by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say in national matters.

Contacts between the countries have long been taboo, a status enforced by Iran's top leadership -- made up of Shiite clerics -- since the U.S. cut ties with Iran after the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

More recently, as tension between the two countries over Iran's nuclear program and other issues has escalated, the dialogue situation has also shifted. Over the weekend, the two governments agreed to hold ambassador-level talks about Iran's war-torn neighbor, Iraq.

A so-called "friendship committee" would open a unique channel of communication between politicians, who presumably could tackle any topic.

"If (Iranian) government officials can reconcile with Americans, why can't the Iranian nation reconcile with the American people?" asked Jalal Hosseini, a pro-reform lawmaker who signed the petition.

So far, proponents have gathered 20 signatures and plan to seek more at the 290-seat parliament. Backers come from across Iran's political spectrum.

No specific number of deputies is required to form the group, and proponents hope to have the petition ready for submission by Sunday. Then, it's up to the parliament speaker, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, to accept or reject the idea.

Haddad Adel is a close associate of Khamenei's, and is likely to seek Khamenei's input.

One hard-line lawmaker, Saeed Aboutaleb, denounced the committee plan, saying, "the nation will strike the mouth of these lawmakers" who support it.

But Morteza Tamaddon, a hard-liner who supported the petition, said it should not be considered a sell-out of Islamic values. "Dialogue is not necessarily conducted by governments. Parliamentary friendship committees is one way of doing that," he said.

Amid recent mounting tensions, some Iranian leaders have warned that the U.S. is seeking to topple the government or even launch military action against Iran. Security forces have cracked down on some pro-democracy activists, accusing them of working for the United States.

The United States accuses Iran of fueling Iraq's violence by backing militants and says Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies both charges.

Iran's acceptance of the Baghdad talks with the U.S. could be a sign Khamenei sees a need for contact with the United States.

The supreme leader is seen as a hard-liner with a pragmatic streak. He has condoned other, occasional contacts with the U.S., including talks ahead of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

Khamenei's stance on the committee was not known. In contrast to past government meetings with the U.S., contacts by lawmakers could be harder for the leadership to control.

Committee proponents said it would help avert anti-Iranian legislation from U.S. lawmakers.

"We also seek to moderate Iran-bashing laws at the U.S. Congress through direct contacts with them and invite U.S. congressmen to get firsthand, correct information about realities in Iran," said reformist lawmaker Darioush Ghanbari.