The View from Tehran

"Iran is a normal country. We are not evil and we do not understand why the U.S. government includes us in the axis of evil." This was a common refrain encountered in Tehran in May 2004 by a visiting group of Westerners, including myself, organized by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The visit included a workshop on Iran's relations with the West held in collaboration with Iran's Institute for Political and International Studies. The time in Tehran-a huge, traffic-choked city-also included sessions at the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the University of Tehran and at Tehran's Center for Strategic Studies, as well as meetings with senior officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Expediency Council.

The discussions in Tehran focused on the evolving crisis over Iran's nuclear activities. Under the guise of a civilian nuclear power program, Iran has developed a substantial nuclear infrastructure capable of supporting a nuclear weapons program. Iran insists that it does not covet nuclear weapons and is clearly quite frustrated that its motives are doubted despite its many proclamations of benign intentions. However, those suspicious of Iran (including especially the U.S. government) presume that Tehran is on the road to the acquisition of nuclear weapons, a presumption reinforced by the secrecy with which Iran has assembled its nuclear assets. The other prominent topic in Tehran was the U.S. intervention in Iraq. Though the Bush Administration intended and expected that the injection of U.S. military power into Iraq would improve its ability to threaten and influence Iran, the view from Tehran was quite different. The prevailing perception among Iranians is that the U.S. war on terror has eliminated Iran's two most acute and proximate security problems-the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq-while the United States has become bogged down in a very vulnerable position in Iraq. The result, they believe, is a significant improvement in Iran's strategic position in the region.

Iran and the United States have experienced more than two decades of confrontation and acrimony, and many serious barriers remain on the path to better relations. Because of the long-standing U.S. sanctions against Iran, it is cut off from important components of the world. Nevertheless, one of the most striking impressions gathered in Tehran is the openly expressed enthusiasm many Iranians have for the idea of better relations with the United States.