July 4, 2008 (LPAC)--Four high level officials of the Iranian government have made statements in the last 72 hours that are highly favorable to the idea of resuming negotiations with the "Five+One'' group of Russia, China, the U.S., Britain, Germany, and France, about its nuclear program. Two of them, are "elders'' of the state, Ali Akbar Velayati, and Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, who date back to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and are close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei; and the two others, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, and head of the Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, report directly to Khameini. But it should be noted that none of them are members of the clergy, which holds the final decision on nuclear issues.
JALILI: On July 3, the Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, reported that Jalili, who is also the chief nuclear negotiator, said in a phone conversation with the Japanese Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura that, "Iran believes that considering common points of the two packages of proposals exchanged between Iran and Western powers, the two sides could start a new round of constructive cooperation in a proper political atmosphere.''
MOTTAKI: On July 2 in New York, Mottaki held a luncheon at Iran's UN offices, with a small group of reporters, where he said that the "5+1'' offer was "constructive,'' and that Iran "saw the potential for a new balance in the offer.'' He also dismissed the threats by Israel and the U.S. to strike Iran militarily as "psychological warfare.'' Warren Strobel of McClatchy Newspapers wrote that Mottaki "declined three opportunities to reiterate'' the position that Iran will not stop its nuclear enrichment.
AGHAZADEH: According to reporter Gareth Porter, Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency, told members of the Majlis energy committee on June 30, that Iran had agreed to start the talks with the 5+1. Porter cited the Farsi-language Iranian website Fararou, which claimed "informed sources'' had specified that Iran had accepted a six-week freeze on any expansion of enrichment as a condition on the negotiations.
VELAYATI: He told an Iranian newspaper this week that "everything'' was subject to negotation, and that "If those who act against our interests want us not to accept [the 5+1 proposal], then our expedience is in accepting it.'' But, he stressed that the negotiations are acceptable, not necessarily the package. Velayati was Iran's foreign minister from 1981 to 1997, and is a foreign policy adviser to Khamenei. He also said that "Officials ... should avoid ... provocative sloganeering,'' which is taken as a reference to President Ahmadinejad.
Lyndon LaRouche said that it is worrisome that despite all of these positive statements, the final decision could be made to nix any nuclear agreement--as had happened during negotiations between Ali Larijani and Russian President Vladimir Putin in late 2005. If that happened this time around, says LaRouche, the effect may have very serious consequences, in the context of the financial collapse, and the oligarchy's determination to control events--even if it means global war.
LaRouche warned: "Negotiations with sundry factions in Iran should be encouraged, but it must never be assumed that one faction proffering an arrangement will be supported by other factions. Those who insist on 'now or never' agreements with the government of Iran are not only being foolish, but are playing into hands of those who wish a doomsday confrontation with Iran prior to the November 2008 U.S. Presidential election: and there are certain factions who are lunatic enough to desire such a confrontation."
