Karrubi Seeks Détente
Former head of the Iranian parliament, Mahdi Karrubi will run for presidential election of June 2009. Rasul Montajabnia, his deputy in National Trust Party, believes that Karrubi will follow a détente policy if president. Our interview with Rasul Montajabnia:How do you predict Karrubi’s foreign policy if he becomes president?
Nothing has been published by his election headquarters yet but based on what Mr. Karrubi has stated so far, he earnestly supports détente. Karrubi is against any measure that stirs tension and provokes other countries against the Islamic Republic. Plus, he advocates negotiation and mutual relation with all countries, whether developed or undeveloped, except for Israel which is an illegitimate state. Negotiations with United States and other world powers is a part of his agenda and he would never avoid that. Reinforcing international relations –except for the case of Israel as I said- is the cornerstone of his foreign policy.
How are these countries prioritized? Which come first: our neighbors or European and Latin American countries?
Naturally Muslim countries come first since unity of Muslim nations is a must. Next are the neighboring countries, due to our proximity and interconnection of our interests. Powerful states and Latin American countries come next.
Does Mr. Karrubi follow a certain plan in relations with United States?
If we believe in the necessity of negotiations and if we want to facilitate détente, we must look for the appropriate instrumentation. One is creating a constructive atmosphere. It’s not that we can insult other countries and think that we can deal with them at the same time. I mean our rhetoric should be consistent. We can’t spout harsh slogans to gain the support of public opinion whether inside our own country or in other Muslim countries and prepare for parley at the backstage. If we truly believe that negotiations are necessary we should pave the way at any rate. I think Mr. Karrubi is against such dual behaviors. And negotiating doesn’t mean we are going to relinquish our rights and national interests, or will disavow for anything. Not a smidgen. But [it means that] like any other country we should plan for advancing our national interests. We should observe global ground rules and codes of speech to sit at the table. Both sides should show goodwill. If they didn’t show it the world will understand that we tried to rebuild relations but they were the ones who acted like dictators.
It seems that the 9th government [Ahmadinejad’s administration] is willing to pay the price for sanctions. How would Mr. Karrubi deal with the sanctions?
I believe that we could have prevented the sanctions. We could stop our nuclear file moving from the Board of Governors to the UN Security Council it wouldn’t have happened if we had followed a rational policy. I believe it was our inflammatory, unconventional rhetoric and our diplomatic mishandling of the situation -not our nuclear activities- that pushed our nuclear file towards the Security Council. We could stop every single resolution passed against us through diplomatic means but inept diplomacy and our president’s harsh language opened the door for tougher measures. If a reformist government holds power it could minimize the loss and block further sanctions or resolutions by applying an active diplomacy.