NEW YORK President Mohammad Khatami said here Thursday that once the Americans assume the responsibility for the consequences of their admission of having masterminded a coup in Iran on August 18, 1953 (at which they reinstalled the runaway Shah of Iran, and continued their hegemony of the country until 1979 and once they agree to make good on it) there would be reason to hope for progress toward removal of misunderstandings.
He said in practice, however, the U.S. had never intimated a willingness to do so.
Speaking at a press conference on the sideline of the UN millennium summit, President Khatami said that Iran's policy of detente concerns all countries and that the Islamic Republic does not advocate enmity with any nation or escalation of tension in any part of the world. He said currently, the peoples of Iran and the United States have good mutual feelings.
"Sanctions and hostile behavior with Iran still continue," he said, and continued, "mere apologies are not enough.
" He added that the Americans must show solid action in support of what they professed in connection with Iran. He said that kind of action has been missing on the part of the American government.
Asked why he had not met with any senior U.S. officials on the occasion of his visit to New York as had done the Speaker of Iran's Majlis Mahdi Karrubi, Khatami said that the status of the parliamentarians is different from that of a head of state.
He said there were still serious misunderstanding between Tehran and Washington, and added that any meeting between him and any of the U.S. officials in the future would be pending the paving of the "historical and political" avenues that might lead to a meeting of that kind.
Asked to comment on the trial earlier this year of a number of Jews in Iran and their conviction of espionage, he said he was surprised why the Western sources were primarily concerned and curious about the status of a few Jewish Iranians. He said it was ironical that the Western sources and their media did not ask about the Muslims that were found guilty on same charges in Iran. He also questioned if there were any Christians among the group in Iran they would receive the same degree of attention and concern from the Western sources.
He said concern by any person about trouble befalling any other person, Jew, Muslim or Christian, would be commendable (as a human feeling for the status of other humans) but, he commented, in all fairness the reaction to the trial of that small group of Jews in Iran had received an attention beyond every reasonable proportion whereas, he reminded, the conviction of a spy in such other countries as Switzerland is routinely looked at as unworthy of any attention.
He commented that the Iranian government had no constitutional liberty to interfere in the business of the Judiciary.
President Khatami said that the cases of Jewish spies were now at retrial, and assured all that justice would eventually prevail.
Speaking about reform programs for which he was campaigning, President Khatami said there were three different interpretations of reforms in Iran.
"Some believe reforms mean overlooking the Islamic Revolution and people's expectations of it; they pursue a fundamental change in the Iranian society, and advocate abandoning religion and moving toward secularism," said he, adding that the notion was what West had mistakenly understood from reforms in Iran.
The second interpretation, Khatami noted, was denying any kind of reform' in society.
In this view, people's rights in the Constitution are overlooked, democratic standards are disregarded, and requirements of the younger generation that arise according to the dictates of the time are not taken into account'.
President Khatami said the third interpretation, what he himself advocated, was to materialize what people agreed on the advent of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"Such a reform program aims to perform the Constitution, even though some of its principles and clauses are open to criticism,' said he.
Khatami said the Iranian people believed in the Islamic Revolution and its principal mottos, and that they mean that their rights and liberties be safeguarded. Any attempt, he said, to hinder such reforms would make people leave the political arena.
President Khatami also commented that it was the revolution that had triggered democracy in Iran. He added that Iran's new experience with a democracy that is fused with intellect, ethics and is coexistent with religion is in certain respects challenged.
He criticized the Western society for its inability to meet the moral and spiritual requirements of its people despite enjoying a long-time experience of democracy.
President Khatami said the affaires of every nation had to be judged within the frameworks of its realities, adding that a new experience of democracy in Iran, that had failed to succeed several times before, could not be compared with a 200-year-long democratic movements in the Western society.
He said there were several reasons for the failure of democracy in Iran, such as intolerance, turning differences of opinion into opposition, and foreign factors.
The Iranian president said freedom, people's rights and national security were the prime concerns of the country, and said there were well-defined boundaries between those concerns in Iran's constitution.
"Security cannot be put at risk in the name of freedom, and freedom cannot be restricted in the name of security".
"Each side is possible to go to the extremes, but people's political and economic claims have to be kept within the limits of the country's capacity," said he.
Asked whether or not he would run for president in the next presidential elections, he said he had not yet decided either way.
Speaking about last year's mass closure of Iranian newspapers, Khatami said he did not advocate that option, and regretted that a number of Iranian journalists had been jailed.
"We advocate a society at which everybody is able to express himself in a logical atmosphere, and we do not accept a dictatorial majority or minority, and pursue moderation in the society," said he.
Khatami said violation of the laws of the state was the vogue during the despotic monarchy in Iran, and added that today, reversing a lingering common mentality that considered the laws of the state as serving solely the interests of the people in power would be a tough job for the Islamic government.
He said abide-by-the-law behavior is a major campaign atop his agenda, and said a major impediment on the way of the country's development was those who disobeyed the laws of the state.
Khatami dismissed claims that there were two governments ruling in Iran, and said the administrative status of the President was different from that of the Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei who, he said, acted as a coordinator between the three branches.
Khatami said bilateral relations between him and the Leader was constant and permanent, and added that any difference of opinion between them would be cleared in the framework of the constitution.
The Iranian president also said there were certain pressure groups in Iran that tried to create problems for his administration, and observed that they were sometimes difficult to encounter.
He said his administration was doing its best to confront those "small governments" so as to make everything prepared for a single government to perform its constitutional duties.
Commenting on mutual understanding of cultures as an objective of the dialog between civilizations, President Khatami said such a dialog was cultural more than it was political, because, he argued, most world dilemmas were rooted in cultural problems.
"The basis for contact in the world are dialog, spread of power, and a will power ... dialog between civilizations aims to change that pattern to a dialog of understanding and kindness, and if that happens, the political and social relations in the world change, and justice, peace and friendship rules the world instead of war".
President Khatami stressed that such a change never comes true easily, and said man had already had enough of war and bloodshed.
"The reason why a proposal to hold a dialog between civilizations receives worldwide attention shows the need of today's society for a peace and a dialog on the global level," said he.
Khatami said he respected the American people, and underscored a need to open a dialog with them, but stressed that the Americans had to be fair in their dialog with other nations.
Speaking about Tehran-Moscow ties, Khatami said Iran and Russia had several common elements, adding that friendly ties between the two countries secured peace in the region and prevented the presence of alien countries there.
When asked about his comment on Saudi Arabia's decision to increase its oil production, President Khatami said Iran did not object to an increase in the oil output according to the need of the oil market, and added that Iran advocated the strategies of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
He said the oil producing countries would discuss the increase in their oil output in the coming OPEC summit, because OPEC, he commented, regarded the interests of both consumers and producers.
Meanwhile in Tehran, the youths branch of the Islamic Iran Participation Party (IIPP) issued a statement on Friday saying that the young members of the IIPP are to welcome President Khatami upon his return from New York in the airport Today.
Paying homage to President Khatami is indeed acknowledging the authority and honor of the Muslim world as well as the Islamic Iran, said the statement.
Praising the president, the statement read, President Khatami has spearheaded the dialog among civilizations thanks to the support of the Iranian nation and has become a source of honor and dignity for the Iranians.
It further said that president's proposals have been widely welcomed by the intellectuals and prominent personalities across the world and this has contributed to promoting Iran's standing at the international scene.
The statement called upon all the youths to come to the airport tomorrow to welcome president upon arrival at the airport.
During his visit to New York Iranian President Mohammad Khatami held meetings with the world leaders in the sidelines of the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York.
Saudi Crown Prince Amir Abdullah in a meeting with President Khatami Thursday discussed the latest developments in the region as well as the forthcoming summit of OPEC due to be held next month in Caracas, Venezuelan capital.
The two sides in the meeting stressed the stability and equilibrium of the oil prices.
In another meeting in New York, Italy's Prime Minister Giuliano Amato in a meeting Thursday with President Khatami expressed pleasure over the growing ties of the European Union with Iran.
President Khatami praised Italy for having played an important role in implementation of the South Pars gas field project, development of Iran's small and medium-size companies which contributes to solve the unemployment problem in the country.
Also, in his meeting with Head of the European Commission Romano Prodi, President Khatami termed Europe as Iran's greatest trade partner saying that today a new chapter has opened in the Iran-Europe ties.
Pointing to the anti-drug efforts by Iran and the great human and financial losses it sustained in the fight against illicit narcotics, President Khatami called upon the European countries to help Iran in its combat to curb the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs via Iran.
In other meeting of the Iranian president, Russia, Spain and Austria on Wednesday voiced their readiness to support the promotion of Khatami's idea of dialog among civilizations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Khatami on the sidelines of the UN Millennium Summit that his country would support Iran's important' proposal on dialog among civilizations.
Khatami at the meeting stressed cooperation between Iran and Russia in settling the Afghan problem and fighting the flow of narcotic drugs with cooperation from the UN and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
They also exchanged views on issues relating to the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Caspian Sea and stressed expansion of ties in the economic, technical and industrial fields.
President Khatami also met the Austrian President Thomas Klestil on the sidelines of the UN session.
In the meeting, the Austrian president told Khatami, Austria will do its best to promote the idea of dialog amongst civilizations.'' Klestil stressed all-out expansion of Tehran-Vienna ties.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said that his country is ready to support the idea of dialog amongst civilizations.
Aznar hailed Iran as a historical country with rich civilization.
He said that his country, as a member of the European Union (EU), has always supported ties with Iran.
In another development, President Khatami told Jordanian King Abdullah II that difference of opinion among regional states is natural. He stressed restoration of real peace taking into account the inalienable rights of regional nations.
The president said that Zionist regime's view points have dashed hope for the return of the main owners of the occupied lands to their homeland.
He emphasized this is the main obstacle on the way of restoration of real peace.
King Abdullah II for his part called for promotion of Tehran-Amman ties in all fields, especially in security and economic spheres.
Also, Khatami and his Lithuanian counterpart Valdas Adamkus in a meeting stressed Iran-Lithuania cooperation at the bilateral and regional levels in line with restoration of security in the region as a precondition to sustainable development in the region.
Adamkus told President Khatami that his country is for expansion of industrial, commercial, economic, social and cultural relations with Tehran. He called on Iran to transfer its expertise to his country and meet each other's needs.
Meanwhile, Khatami and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko stressed promotion of technical, economic, industrial and transportation ties between Tehran and Minsk. They also underlined exchanged of views on the Caucasus related issues.
President Khatami said that common stances and interests of Iran and Belarussia would prepare the ground for promotion of bilateral ties.
(IRNA)