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Sources: U.S. sought a government dialogue with Iran
Khatami's comments viewed as 'yes' reply
January 9, 1998
Web posted at: 1:57 p.m. EST (1857 GMT)From State Department Correspondent Steve Hurst
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Clinton administration recently sought to open a government-to-government dialogue with Iran, sources said, sending a secret letter to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami through diplomatic channels in the second week of August.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said Iran did not reply through those same channels, but U.S. officials viewed Khatami's moderate statements about respect for the American people, made last month and again in a CNN interview this week, as the answer to the U.S. overture.
Washington severed ties with Tehran after radicals there took 52 Americans hostage in 1979, holding them for 444 days.
The letter to Iran, sources said, contained no provisos and simply asked the Iranians if they were ready to conduct talks with the United States.
The sources said such a letter would have been signed by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. It was written, they said, after a long administration debate in which one camp argued that Washington should wait for Iran to make the first approach.
The letter was sent through the Swiss ambassador in Tehran. Contrary to a Washington Post report Friday, sources said, the Swiss channel has been much used for practical communication, not just angry ideological exchanges.
The Swiss government represents U.S. interests with the Iranians. The sources said the Swiss Embassy in Washington regularly spends up to 20 percent of its time on Iranian contact on behalf of the United States.
Following Khatami's public statements, the State Department said Washington was ready for a government dialogue, as long as the Iranians were ready to discuss U.S. claims that Tehran supported terrorist groups opposed to the Middle East peace process, and had made efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. government has accused Iran of financing and training groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestine Islamic Jihad, who oppose Middle East peacemaking with violence.
Officials are also curious about Iranian willingness to comply with the international treaty to ban chemical weapons, which Iran signed late last year. Iran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons is a major sore point for the Clinton administration. Officials say it is unclear how far along the project might be.
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Related stories:
- No apology from Iran, but that's OK, say some former hostages - January 8, 1998
- Khatami suggests warmer relations with U.S. - January 7, 1998
- Khatami interview transcript - January 7, 1998
- Khatami's overture disappoints U.S. officials - January 7, 1998
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