‎Kurosh Salimi

As Iran comes under greater international pressures, the foreign policy of the Islamic ‎Republic of Iran during Ahmadinejad’s last year of presidency is getting a beating from ‎inside the country as well. Last week the spokesperson for the country’s Foreign Ministry ‎had one of the toughest days on his job and repeated and numerous questions were ‎thrown at him over the performance the logic of many decisions, which only led to ‎ambiguous, short and cautious responses.‎

According to news reports from Iran, during this session, Hosseini was asked, “We have ‎witnessed recently contradictory statements over the country’s nuclear issue. On one ‎hand IAEA’s elBaradei announced that Iran was ready to respond to the presented claims ‎while on the other it was said that the Foreign Ministry has said that it is not willing to ‎engage in responding to international claims.” His reply: “We have passed the phase of ‎studying the assertions. We have resolved six issues and announced our evaluations. The ‎talks last week and this week were in the framework of the cooperation between Iran and ‎the IAEA.”‎

A reporter asked the IAEA boss, “What if elBaradei states in his June report that the talks ‎that the agency held with Iran were to get answers to these claims? How would you ‎explain the submission of new documents and claims to Iran within the context of the ‎cooperation between the agency and one of its members?” Hosseini’s reply was, “This ‎issue can be discussed within the framework of our cooperation with the agency. But this ‎is only an assumption.”‎

Another reporter, probably from ultra-conservative pro-government Keyhan newspaper ‎quipped, “This is not an assumption but the actual official words of elBaradei and other ‎officials of the IAEA,” to which the Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “What the Agency ‎says about the contents of talks to be held next week should be asked of the Agency. We ‎announce our position and you should listen only to our position.”‎

On this exchange, Keyhan newspaper wrote, “Hosseini did not confirm the discussion of ‎the claims during the recent trip by an Agency official and announced that Iran had ‎announced its readiness that if the agency intended to raise the issue, then a time and ‎place should be proposed as well.”‎

The reporter continued his line of questioning regarding the IAEA officials’ visit to Iran ‎and speculated that he would return to Iran again this week and the subject of his talks ‎would be the claims against Iran. He then asked the Foreign Ministry spokesperson to ‎simply acknowledge or reject that. Hosseini replied that he had already announced its ‎position regarding the claims against Iran.‎

Regarding the interception of a shipment of nuclear material for the Bushehr nuclear ‎plant in southern Iran at the border of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, he said, “The ‎Russian side is working to transport this shipment to Iran, as it is obliged to do.”‎

Regarding the statements made by US officialas about possible military action against ‎Iran, the Foreign Ministry official said, “Gates and Cheney have said such things. But we ‎think American officials are wedged in Iraq and have problems in the region and even ‎domestically and so it is doubtful that they would choose to get into yet another ‎campaign. They themselves know that the consequences of such a measure on the region ‎and the world would be unpleasant.”‎

When the spokesperson was confronted with the question regarding the removal of ‎Mehdi Safari, Iran’s special envoy for the Caspian Sea, he again dodged the question and ‎simply said that the issue was now led by Mr. Sheikh Attar, and that there was no change ‎in Iran’s position on this. He added that because Mr. Sheikh Attar was responsible for the ‎Commonwealth of Independent States, he was given this task as well.‎

On the same issue of the Caspian Sea talks, Hosseini said, “This is a trend that has ‎existed from the past. During the recent meeting in Tehran we reached an agreement and ‎then followed it up in Baku.”‎

A reporter asked him about the termination of cooperation between a Swiss bank and the ‎limitations imposed on Iran’s foreign assets, and even the closure of accounts of certain ‎individuals, to which Hosseini replied: “What certain countries have done relates to the ‎recent UN Security Council resolution where efforts have also been made through ‎statements to implement them.” He also said that this measure by Switzerland had ‎nothing to do with the bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of ‎energy and that both countries demonstrated their seriousness during the Swiss Foreign ‎Minister’s recent visit to Iran in their pursuit of implementing the gas agreement.‎

During this weekly meeting, which did not bring a single good tiding even for the pro-‎government newspapers, Hosseini spun a response to the question about why Iran had ‎been expelled from Malaysia’s defense exhibition and said, “Iran’s participation had ‎come about because of agreements and cooperation with the Malaysian side, and Iran had ‎participated in the inauguration and first day of the exhibition.” He continued to claim ‎that a minor difference had developed between Iranian participants and the Malaysians on ‎the second day and that the Iranian embassy immediately took steps to resolve the issue, ‎but it was confronted with the insistence of the Malaysians.‎

Regarding the possibility that the 5 British nationals that had been kidnapped in Iraq ‎ended up being held by the Passdaran Revolutionary Guards in Tehran, Hosseini said that ‎such false news was spread by Zionists and that the news source was not a reliable one. ‎He added that everyone knew of the illegal detentions, torture and transfer of individuals ‎by Western countries to unknown destinations. ‎

Another unpleasant and discomforting question that was posed was regarding the ‎statements that the Iraqi national security advisor had said about Iran and Syria. Hosseini ‎replied, “I am sorry to say that I hear certain things from some Iraqi friends and brothers ‎which are not in line with the realities of relations between Iran and Iraq and with Iran’s ‎unwavering support of Iran for the Iraqi nation and government. Such remarks are neither ‎beneficial to Iraq nor to the national interest of this country.” At this point, Hosseini ‎revealed that Iraq’s Prime Minister Maleki would be visiting Iran and that the details of ‎his visit had been completed while the specific date remains to be worked out.‎

One of the reporters asked the spokesperson whether he would confirm that the talks ‎between Iran and the US had stalled, to which he replied, “Our position regarding these ‎talks has not changed. The talks are for Iraq’s security to be held with Iraqi officials.”‎

Another issue that came up was reporting in Arabic alMostaghbal newspaper which had ‎written that Iran had 5,000 troops in Lebanon. Hosseini denied this and said no Iranians ‎troops existed there and that they could expel any such troops there.‎

According to the reporters that were present at the weekly session, the hardest point came ‎when a Keyhan reporter asked about the possible talks between Israel and Syria and ‎asked for a clear response. Hosseini made a reference to Hafez Assad’s policies and said ‎that the Golan Heights had been occupied by Israel which had to be returned without any ‎conditions. He added that any country that could facilitate the return of the land to the ‎Syrians would make us happy, adding that Syria’s resistance and perseverance would ‎encourage other nations to continue their resistance until the return of their land.‎

Regarding Iran’s pipeline project with India and Iranian propaganda that India had ‎ignored American requests, Hosseini had a harder time and denied the importance of the ‎‎(Iranian President’s) visit to India adding, “The main purpose of the visit (of ‎Ahmadinejad) is Sri Lanka, but India and Pakistan too will be visited unofficially for a ‎few hours where the pipeline project will be discussed with the officials of the two ‎countries.”‎

Another reporter at the gathering asked the official whether Iran could act as an ‎intermediary between Syria and Saudi Arabia, which Hosseini did not deny and said, ‎‎“Iran is prepared to take steps in this regard but not as a mediator but as a country that ‎has good relations with both parties.”‎

This meeting was so tense and unpleasant that soon after it rumors spread that perhaps ‎the spokesperson would even submit his resignation, particularly as he had never ‎appeared so uncomfortable and disturbed.‎