Journalist and political expert Mashallah Shamsolvaezin tells Rooz in an interview that with the end of the Bush era, the Ahmadinejad era in foreign policy also has ended. You read the interview below.
Rooz (R): Ahmadinejad's congratulatory note to Obama was unprecedented. In your opinion, can Ahmadinejad continue the track of negotiations with the United States?
Mashallah Shamsolvaezin (MS): The conservatives in Iran are perhaps more able than others to advance the agenda of negotiations with America. But one must note that when the Bush era has ended, the Ahmadinejad era in foreign policy also has ended. We must change our players so that we can operate better than expected, so that we can reap tangible benefits. If we fail to do so, we may get some results which are limited, little and possibly fleeting.
R: What is Mr. Ahmadinejad's problem concerning tangible benefits?
MS: Mr. Ahmadinejad is a confrontational figure. He is a figure built for radical confrontation. It is the same domestically. He has obliterated the country's entire infrastructure. He has destroyed all institutions involved in devising long-term policy, such as the Planning and Management Organization. He is an individual without long-term vision and without a plan. However, we must ponder about a long-term strategy regarding our relations with America and the world. We must have politicians who can bring stability back to Iranian politics. Three decades of instability in foreign relations and affairs is enough. It is not sustainable anymore - as if we have deprived ourselves of the possibility of living in peace and quiet. We only know how to break things and create challenges and crises.
R: So in your opinion meaningful negotiations are not possible in the Ahmadinejad era?
MS: Change in the present composition is not possible during the Ahmadinejad era. Just as developments in the American society could not continue with Bush, developments in Iranian society are pointing to the direction of change, but the government is unable to process that. The United States did process that and Obama was presented as the solution. A similar transformation has occurred in Iran and the regime must bow down to pressures and prepare the representative of this transformation for the most important period facing the Islamic Republic in its three decades of existence, meaning establishing relations with the United States and devising a regional strategy that addresses the interests of Iran, the United States and the Middle East.
R: What would the repercussions be if Iran is unable to respond the change in U.S. policies and fails to capitalize on the opportunity?
MS: We would witness a difficult situation. We are getting closer to our last opportunities. If we cannot use these opportunities severe crises would afflict us. This is because Obama enjoys a positive place in public opinion and has much more legitimacy than Bush both inside and outside the United States. Therefore, any decision he makes with respect to Iran would enjoy more significant international backing. In that case, Iran's situation would become all the more worrisome.
