Iran Expects US to Change Hostile PolicyIran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi here on Monday expressed hope that the United States will change its hostile policy toward Iran after a new president was elected."Taking into account the failures it has experienced over the past 20 years, we hope that the US will revise its policy toward Iran," the spokesman told reporters at a press conference. Asefi did not specify whether Iran favors Republican George W. Bush or Democratic Al Gore to be the next U.S. president, saying it is up to the Americans themselves to make their choice from the two candidates. The US presidential voting is to be held on Tuesday. On the long-time US economic sanctions on Iran, Asefi said " the longer they last, the more US companies will suffer." He said that despite the embargoes, Iran has successfully maintained good economic relations with most other countries, notably European countries. On reports that President Bill Clinton has sent a secret message to President Mohammad Khatami to seek bilateral talks, Asefi said he had no idea about such a message. But he added that Iran and the US sporadically exchange messages via the Swiss embassy in Tehran which represents US interests. Iran and the US severed diplomatic ties in 1980 after US embassy staff in Tehran were taken hostage by radical students in the heyday of the Islamic revolution. The ice between Tehran and Washington has thawed a bit since Khatami took office in 1997. In March, Washington lifted a ban on three major Iranian non-oil exports -- pistachio, carpets and caviar -- as a goodwill gesture to Iranian reformers who won an overwhelming victory in the sixth parliament election in February. But the Clinton administration still keeps the major part of economic sanctions and sticks to its accusations that Iran supports international terrorism, attempts to make mass-destructive weapons and opposes the Middle East peace process. Iran has repeatedly called on the US to remove the "contradictions" in its Iran policy and work toward resumption of ties through concrete measures. |
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