GLOBAL VIEWPOINT: Iran's recent initiatives to seek release of the hostages in Lebanon has been heralded in the West as evidence of a new moderate course aimed, among other things, at re-establishing badly needed commercial ties. What is the reason behind Iran's new course?
KAMAL KHARRAZI: It is not the policy of Iran which has been changed. Rather, the attitude of the West, as well as the Arab states of the region, changed just after the Persian Gulf crisis. Many countries supported Iraq in the war with Iran. But when the second aggression happened last August, they started to look at Iran in a different way. They finally understood that Iran was not the trouble-maker in the region.This new outlook has created an atmosphere more open to Iran, which we have used to improve our relations. Iran is no longer a power that can be ignored in the region.
GV: Where does the process of releasing hostages stand at this moment? What has taken so long after the release of Edward A. Tracy, the American, and John McCarthy, the British hostage?
KHARRAZI: The process has been blocked by Israel. Everybody was expecting Israel to be responsive to the release of Tracy and McCarthy, to take some concrete steps by releasing some of the hostages they hold.
Instead, they have done nothing except demand information about seven POWs captured during their invasion of Lebanon. But, as far as I understand, the case of prisoners of war is very different than that of hostages - innocent people who have been kidnapped, be they Lebanese, Western or Iranians. Four Iranians, you must remember, are hostages held by the Christian Falangist militia (in Lebanon).
If the obstacle to ending the hostage crisis is going to be removed, the West and others have to put pressure on Israel to convince them to take some positive step that will speed the release of the remaining hostages. If they don't respond, the momentum will stop.
GV: What kind of "responsive" move are you looking for from Israel that would convince you to call on your contacts in Lebanon to release the remaining hostages?
KHARRAZI: At this stage, Israel has to release some of the nearly 400 Lebanese and Palestinians they are holding in Israel and southern Lebanon. If they do that, the Lebanese groups would be encouraged to take the next step and release some other hostages. One side cannot be expected to take unilateral positive steps without any reciprocation.
Unlike the Israeli prisoners taken in the course of actual fighting, the captives held by Israel were taken off the street or in the market. They were ordinary people and cannot be compared to combatants.
GV: Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani has said that Israel doesn't want to resolve the hostage crisis. Why would that be?
KHARRAZI: They would prefer to see conflict in the Middle East continued because it ensures their special relationship with the West.
GV: The Germans have said they will not release Mohammed Hamadi, who hijacked TWA flight 847 to Beirut in 1985 and murdered an American passenger, or (release) his brother.
Former CIA Director Stansfield Turner and others in the West have argued that such criminals, duly convicted in a court of law, should not be released as part of this deal.
Is that also an obstacle to a grand hostage deal?
KHARRAZI: This is a special case. It is something that has to be resolved between the Hamadi family and the German government.
GV: Did the Iranian government take the initiative in seeking the release of McCarthy and Tracy?
KHARRAZI: Of course, Iran has been a key factor in encouraging the Lebanese groups to take the first step. We are pressing for the release of all hostages, no matter what their nationality. We are doing whatever we can to support the secretary-general of the United Nations in his efforts.
If you compare the positions of Iran and Israel, you will see that we are most willing to end the crisis.
Even though four Iranians are captive in Lebanon, we don't insist that we must first have information about them before we encourage the Lebanese groups to release their hostages. We are encouraging them to go ahead with releases without demanding a total accounting of our own hostages.
Unlike the Israelis, we don't feel that these innocent human lives should be bargaining chips.
GV: What is the nature of Iran's relationship with Lebanese Islamic groups like the Hezbollah? Does President Rafsanjani or Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati pick up the phone, or send their emissary, and say "release Tracy, release Terry Waite?" How does this happen?
KHARRAZI: Actually, it is a very complicated process. It is not just a matter of picking up the phone and declaring the release of the hostages. We have to go through different channels and contact different organizations to be able to convince someone to release a hostage. These are very small, tightly organized, underground groups.
You can get a sense of what we are dealing with in Lebanon when you see what happened after Tracy and McCarthy were released. Because of arguments among themselves, another group was created which took the French aid worker (Jerome Leyraud) hostage.
Despite some perceptions in the West, Iran's leaders cannot just order the release of hostages. It is not that simple.
GV: Do you believe that the leaders of Hezbollah as well as the small underground Islamic groups in Lebanon are convinced that hostage-taking should end?
KHARRAZI: In general, I believe everyone except Israel feels that the international atmosphere is ripe to see the hostage problem resolved. The West, the Lebanese, Iran - itself a victim of hostage-taking - are anxious to see this tragedy resolved.
GV: What was the logic of taking a Western hostage two years ago and why wouldn't that same logic apply now?
KHARRAZI: We all have to be attentive and responsive to the grievances of these Lebanese people. They have suffered Israeli aggression and civil war. Taking hostages was the instrument of powerless people trying to gain some leverage. If we are attentive to their problems, they won't any longer find this instrument a useful one.
GV: What happens next?
KHARRAZI: The Secretary-General has been consulting with all parties. It is time for him to come up with a comprehensive plan which would include all hostages - either information about the hostages or their actual exchange.
I am hopeful that this process will result in the release of all hostages. This comprehensive exchange will come soon if the Western countries exert more pressure on Israel.
GV: What does Iran seek from the West in response to its efforts to release the hostages?
KHARRAZI: We are not using the hostage release as a bargaining chip. It is our humanitarian responsibility as a stable member of the community of nations.
GV: But you are hoping, of course, that this will improve relations with the West, especially for commercial reasons?
KHARRAZI: It is natural. When responsible states cooperate with each other, it creates a new atmosphere that is conducive to the improvement of relations.
GV: Some people obviously don't want to see improved relations between Iran and the West. I'm thinking of the recent assassination in Paris of Shapour Bakh-tiar, the Shah's last prime minister, who was a longtime opponent of the government you represent.
Who killed Shapour Bakhtiar?
KHARRAZI: It is very suspicious. The key man involved in his assassination was very close to him over the years, a confidant in fact. This leads me to believe the assassination resulted from an internal dispute among members of the opposition group.
GV: You reject the charge by former Iranian president Abolhas-san Bani-Sadr that Bakhtiar was killed by Rafsanjani's government, that a hit list had been drawn up in Tehran?
KHARRAZI: The government of Iran has nothing to do with this murder.
1991, New Perspectives Quarterly
Dist. by Los Angeles Times Syndicate