Opinion Columnists

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 300 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Thursday, July 10, 2008 Iranian signals become ever more mixed By David Ignatius NEW YORK -- Even in midsummer, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, wears the three-piece suit of a traditional diplomat. But faithful to the dress code of the Iranian revolution, he doesn't wear a necktie. That mix of symbols is a good snapshot of Iran's hard-and-soft foreign policy these days. The Iranians are signaling that they want talks with the West -- and hinting that they are ready for a serious dialogue with the Great Satan in Washington. But while they discuss engagement, they remain wary of it. The Iranians are almost coquettish: They like being wooed, and they enjoy being at the center of attention, but they aren't quite ready to say yes. And even as they talk of diplomacy, the Iranians continue to brandish the weapons of war. The latest example was the test firing Wednesday of a Shahab-3 missile, which with its 1,200-mile range is capable of hitting Israel. "Our hands are always on the trigger," said Revolutionary Guard Gen. Hossein Salami. The mixed messages are especially evident on the nuclear issue, where Mottaki raised hopes last week that the Iranians might respond favorably to a new proposal for negotiations, and then in his formal response didn't give a clear, yes or no answer. The United States and the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council had proposed a "freeze-for-freeze" deal, in which Iran would agree not to expand its nuclear program in exchange for a freeze on additional United Nations sanctions, as a prelude to negotiations. But in a three-page letter to Javier Solana, the European Union's top diplomat, Mottaki offered only a noncommittal "generic response," according to one person who read the letter. What course is Iran pursuing? The leaders themselves probably aren't sure. A lively debate is under way in Tehran, with hard-liners arguing that the West is weak and Iran should refuse any compromises, and a more pragmatic faction contending that now is the time for Iran to come to the table and consolidate its gains. This debate is surfacing in the Iranian press, according to an analysis by the "Persia House" group at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton: They note "a widening rift between camps within the governing elite, as well as popular support for compromise." Mottaki offered a glimpse of Iran's thinking during an interview here last week. Running through his remarks was a self-confidence that Iran is up in the Middle East while its adversaries, the United States and Israel, are down. "There was a day when the passage of a U.S. warship offshore could change governments -- that's how much people feared the United States," he told me. "Today, America has 150,000 troops in Iraq and it is unable to provide security for Iraqis, or even for its own forces." The Iranian diplomat discounted the threat of U.S. or Israeli military action. Talk of an American attack was just "psychological warfare," he said. As for Israel, after its difficulties in the 2006 Lebanon war, "the chance that the Israeli government will attack the region again is almost nil," he told a group of journalists. Paradoxically, perhaps, the Iranians trust American rationality. They think it would be folly to attack Iran when U.S. troops are vulnerable in Iraq and Afghanistan. When I pressed Mottaki how Iran would respond if the next president proposed a broad diplomatic dialogue, he was cautious. He said that as a former ambassador to Japan, he had come to respect the Japanese approach of navigating unknown waters carefully. There is enormous mistrust between Iran and America, he said, so people should be realistic about what diplomacy can accomplish. Some Iranian moderates have told me they would like to see a broad strategic dialogue between the two countries, similar to Henry Kissinger's breakthrough conversations with the Chinese in 1971. But Mottaki cautioned that, while it was easy to say "let's sit down and talk about everything," that approach might produce a diplomatic version of "tarouf" -- an Iranian expression for the ritual politeness in which people say things just to be nice. He seemed to prefer a process in which the two sides would initially discuss one or two pressing issues and, if they made progress, move on to a broader dialogue. "The first word that diplomats are taught is compromise," Mottaki said at one point. But for a proud, prickly and supremely confident Iran, the message now is "maybe." Learning the language of "yes" will take a long while. David Ignatius is a Washington Post columnist. His e-mail address is davidignatius@washpost.com.

1. Boeing, Machinists union agree to talks 2. Crash injures 1, blocks highway near Granite Falls 3. Meridian Yachts to shut down; hundreds to lose jobs 4. 'Opus' creator to retire from drawing comic strips 5. Supreme Court ruling clears way for Dwayne Lane's Island Crossing plans 6. Few answers in fatal Snohomish fire 7. Horizon's request is no worry to Allegiant 8. U.S. 2 trestle to be closed Friday night 9. Fixes for Lake Stevens bus policy satisfy parent 10. Vikings' Dickinson practices, doubtful for showdown with M-P 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• 'Free' solution to costly problem? • King's beats Archbishop Murphy, takes over lead in Cascade Conference • One sweet training program • Who says white men can't rap? • Anonymous parent salvages snacks at school • Court move's plans raise questions • Jackson prevails in overtime thriller • Meadowdale's Moore-Taylor runs wild • Jackson breaks through late, beats Scots • Paine Field airline service strongly supported by 71 percent of web surv ... • Verizon launches FiOS TV in Washington State • Leisure Time Events - September 2008 • September 2008 • State needs to establish north county campus to meet growing technology ... • Future software programs may be based online • Visit two unusual Paine Field aviation museums for historic and futurist ... • Mothers launch Kids ‘N’ Clay pottery studio to provide children with cre ...