As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani prepared to deliver a speech on Tuesday to the UN general assembly, advocating “constructive engagement” with the world, I reflected on my own experiences as president of this great country and my attempts to promote dialogue among nations, instead of hostility.
At my suggestion, 2001 was named the UN Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. However, despite reaching a global audience, the message of dialogue barely penetrated the most intractable political dilemmas at home or abroad.
More than at any other time in history, events in the Middle East and north Africa have taken on global significance. There has been a great shift in the importance of this region. This transformation, which began with Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution — a surprise to many in the international community — intensified with the end of the cold war.
The region has become a center for new political, social and ideological forces as well as a site of collaboration and conflict with powers beyond the region. Almost all the problems facing the Middle East and north Africa today have international implications. Iran’s nuclear issue is but one of these and certainly not the biggest. However, in addressing the Middle East’s other problems, much depends on the manner in which this one is resolved.
In order to be successful, any dialogue must use the language of politics and diplomacy. Rouhani’s platform of prudence and hope is a practical translation of the idea of dialogue among nations into the realm of politics. This is more necessary than ever at a time when a range of overlapping political crises are threatening global catastrophe.
With the initiative of Rouhani, who enjoys widespread support from almost all segments of Iranian society, I hope this country will succeed in steering a path towards global dialogue.
PAST FAILURE
The opportunity to diplomatically resolve differences between Iran and the West, including the impasse over the nuclear issue, presented itself many years ago during my presidency. That opportunity was missed, for reasons that are now public knowledge.
To understand why, one only needs read the memoirs of then British foreign secretary Jack Straw or then secretary general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei — or indeed the memoirs of Rouhani, who was then the chief negotiator of the Iranian nuclear delegation.
More than a decade ago, although agreement appeared possible, diplomacy failed. After Sept. 11, 2001, the US initiated costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with Iraq invaded on the false pretext that it was developing weapons of mass destruction. It is no surprise that, in this political atmosphere, diplomacy with Iran ended in failure.
Israel, too, sabotaged the chance for the West to reach an agreement with Iran by injecting skepticism and doubt. On the eve of Rouhani’s speech at the UN, Israel has again begun a campaign to discredit him because it fears the end of tension between Iran and the West.
Those who are trapped by bitter experience make every effort to disrupt the progress of diplomacy once again. These people fail to realize a simple point about the relationship between domestic and foreign policy.
IRANIAN DEMOCRACY
Rouhani’s government was elected by a society seeking positive change, at a time when Iran and the wider region was desperately in need of prudence and hope. This vote was not limited to a specific political camp; as well as many reformers, many political prisoners and a significant body of conservatives had a share in Rouhani’s victory. For the first time there is an opportunity to create a national consensus above and beyond partisan factionalism — one that may address the political predicaments of the country, with an emphasis on dialogue and mutual understanding globally.
Explicit public support from the supreme leader of the Islamic republic provides Rouhani and his colleagues with the necessary authority for a diplomatic resolution of a number of foreign policy issues with the West, not just the nuclear issue.
A peace-seeking Iran can contribute as a willing partner not only to solving its own differences with the global powers, but also to overcoming some of the region’s chronic political disputes. However, it requires a degree of courage and optimism from the West to listen to the voices of the Iranians who have been painfully targeted by unjust sanctions, which have threatened the very fabric of civil society and democratic infrastructures.
Failure now to create an atmosphere of trust and meaningful dialogue will only boost extremist forces on all sides. The consequences of such a failure will be not only regional, but global. For a better world — for Iranians and the next generation across the globe — I earnestly hope that Rouhani will receive a warm and meaningful response at the UN.
Iran is different from the Iran of years ago and the consequences of the Islamic revolution are still playing out. Our positive and negative experiences of the past 16 years have added another dimension to the reforms that Rouhani is conducting at domestic and international level; they have enriched the Islamic republic’s democratic capacities and added to the experience of the international community.
The public’s vote for Rouhani and his agenda for change has provided an unrivaled and possibly unique opportunity for Iran, the West and all local and regional powers. With a foreign policy based on dialogue and diplomacy at the heart of the Middle East, we can imagine a better world for the east and the West — including the diplomatic resolution of Iran’s nuclear issue, which is utterly feasible if there is goodwill and fairness.
Mohammad Khatami was president of Iran from 1997 to 2005.
A series of strong earthquakes in Hualien County not only caused severe damage in Taiwan, but also revealed that China’s power has permeated everywhere. A Taiwanese woman posted on the Internet that she found clips of the earthquake — which were recorded by the security camera in her home — on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. It is spine-chilling that the problem might be because the security camera was manufactured in China. China has widely collected information, infringed upon public privacy and raised information security threats through various social media platforms, as well as telecommunication and security equipment. Several former TikTok employees revealed
The bird flu outbreak at US dairy farms keeps finding alarming new ways to surprise scientists. Last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that H5N1 is spreading not just from birds to herds, but among cows. Meanwhile, media reports say that an unknown number of cows are asymptomatic. Although the risk to humans is still low, it is clear that far more work needs to be done to get a handle on the reach of the virus and how it is being transmitted. That would require the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get
For the incoming Administration of President-elect William Lai (賴清德), successfully deterring a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attack or invasion of democratic Taiwan over his four-year term would be a clear victory. But it could also be a curse, because during those four years the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will grow far stronger. As such, increased vigilance in Washington and Taipei will be needed to ensure that already multiplying CCP threat trends don’t overwhelm Taiwan, the United States, and their democratic allies. One CCP attempt to overwhelm was announced on April 19, 2024, namely that the PLA had erred in combining major missions
On April 11, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a speech at a joint meeting of the US Congress in Washington, in which he said that “China’s current external stance and military actions present an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge … to the peace and stability of the international community.” Kishida emphasized Japan’s role as “the US’ closest ally.” “The international order that the US worked for generations to build is facing new challenges,” Kishida said. “I understand it is a heavy burden to carry such hopes on your shoulders,” he said. “Japan is already standing shoulder to shoulder