President Hu Jintao, in his telephone conversation with US President George
W. Bush on June 1, pledged to maintain the working of the international
non-proliferation system, and urged a settlement to the Iranian nuclear issue
through diplomatic channels and negotiations.
On the same day, officials from the United States, Russia, China, Britain,
France and Germany met in Vienna and reached a consensus on a package of
proposals on urging Iran to stop uranium enrichment, which was proposed by the
EU3 (France, the United Kingdom and Germany).
The proposals state that sanctions would be imposed on Iran within the
framework of the United Nations Charter if the country refuses to co-operate,
stopping short of mentioning specific articles in the charter that lead to
possible military action.
Under the agreement, the five permanent members of the United Nations
Security Council will meet to discuss new measures to be taken. This contrasts
with the previous position, in which the Iranian nuclear issue would be
automatically submitted to the UN Security Council if Iran refused to halt
uranium enrichment, for the Security Council to authorize punishing sanctions
against the country.
US President Bush said at the White House on June 1 that the issue would not
be reported to the UN Security Council on the condition that Iran suspends
enriching uranium. But he warned that the international community would act
together against Iran if that country ignores the wishes of the international
community.
Iran's nuclear programme has been a key issue since the country resumed
uranium enrichment last year, with the United States taking a very hard line on
it. However, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced on May 31 that the
United States would join other countries to have direct negotiations with Iran
on condition that Iran halts its uranium enrichment activities.
Rice's remarks surprised many people. Her announcement signifies that
noticeable changes have taken place in terms of US policy towards Iran. It came
as the international community has constantly been urging the United States to
negotiate directly with Teheran.
Washington has now sent out a positive signal that it is willing to have
direct dialogue with Teheran, despite the fact that it still sets some
preconditions.
As if to accompany this development, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki indicated on May 30 that the country was ready to resume negotiations
with relevant parties. On the same day, the spokesman for Iran's Foreign
Ministry reiterated that Teheran would not halt uranium enrichment.
Iran is staging multilateral diplomacy to regain the initiative in the face
of mounting pressure from the international community, while also pursuing its
nuclear undertakings according to plan.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated last month at the Bali
summit of eight large Muslim countries that Iran has the right to a nuclear
programme and said that Western countries would not give Iran a chance, in a bid
to win over sympathy and support from the public in Muslim countries.
In the final analysis, the conflict between Khomeinism and Bush Doctrine lies
behind all of the manoeuvres on Iran's nuclear programme.
Ayatollah Khomeini masterminded Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, which
toppled the monarchy of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Khomeini formally came to
power on February 11, 1979 and became the country's supreme spiritual leader.
An institution that incorporated Islam and secular power into one whole was
created by the constitution enacted shortly after the revolution. Amendments
were made to the constitution in April 1989, emphasizing that Islam, the
republican system and the absolute power of the supreme leader were never to be
altered.
Iran has a 5,000-year-old civilization. The ancient Persian Empire was in its
heyday in the sixth century BC. But Iran was humiliated greatly in the last two
or three centuries, being repeatedly dismembered and occupied by world powers
and eventually becoming the semi-colony of the British Empire and Czarist
Russia. This descent into the abyss of disgrace lends a grievous and indignant
hue to the Iranian national characteristics, which finds an expression in strong
nationalist feelings and a thirst for national revival.
Driven by its ambition, Iran hopes to gain an important position in the
Middle East and, in turn, reclaim the status of an influential major power in
the world arena. And the possession of a nuclear capability seems vitally
important in this regard.
The Islamic revolution in 1979 and Iranians' strong anti-US feeling were
closely associated with this nationalist complex. Iranian students stormed the
US embassy in Teheran on November 4, 1979 and took 52 American diplomats hostage
for 444 days. Many Americans regard this as a humiliation that ranks only second
to the defeat of the United States in the Viet Nam War.
With Khomeini in power, Iran was bent on exporting revolution, spreading
Islamic culture overseas and expanding Iran's influence. In the ninth
presidential election in June 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinehad, a conservative
candidate and former Teheran mayor, emerged victorious and was sworn in as the
new Iranian president on August 3.
Ahmadinejad is likely to regard Iran's gaining of major-power status as the
best way to secure further support from the grass-roots and conservative
elements that helped bring him to power.
The United States has found itself in a "post-Cold War era" since George W.
Bush took office in 2001.
The September 11 attacks struck the country like a bolt from the blue as the
United States was relishing its status as the world's sole superpower. When the
dust of the terror assaults settled, the United States found that it was much
more vulnerable than expected. Hence, countering terrorism became an overriding
task.
One pre-emptive strike was launched after another in the wake of September
11. The United States hoped to seek absolute security through these wars. The
focal point is the Middle East, although this massive anti-terror undertaking
covers all parts of the world.
This strategy, which involves components including force, pre-emption rather
than reaction and countering terrorism with democracy is labelled the Bush
Doctrine. It is obvious that the United States, under the guidance of the Bush
Doctrine, wants to re-draw the political map of the Middle East. In such
circumstances, Iran is threatened with marginalization. It is against this
backdrop that the battle between the two doctrines has started.
Iran is a big country in the Gulf region whose influence should never be
trifled with. The United States placed heavier pressure on Iran because it
feared that the situation in Iraq would get increasingly volatile.
In view of all this, the battle between Khomeinism and the Bush Doctrine is
expected to impact on the peace and stability of the Middle East and the Gulf
region for a long time to come.
The author is deputy director of China Institute of
International Studies.
(China Daily 06/05/2006 page4)