By Samuel Rubenfeld
The United States must “normalize relations with Iran” instead of preparing for a possible invasion, said Mansour Farhang, who spoke Wednesday concluding the International Scene lecture series presented by the University’s Center for Civic Engagement. He also said that the American-supported Shah had been a major supporter of Iranian nuclear capability prior to his overthrow in 1979.
As an Iranian-born author and diplomat, Mansour Farhang served as the first ambassador to the United Nations after the Iranian revolution, but left in 1981 as a dissident. He currently teaches Middle Eastern politics and international relations at Bennington College in Vermont.
His lecture focused on relations between the United States and Iran, specifically, if Iran were to gain the capacity to build a nuclear weapon, which he said that experts believe is to be about five to seven years away.
Farhang sought to dispel the notion in the United States that the current Iranian administration is nothing but a group of religious fanatics. “I consider the Iranian political leaders, those that are managing the country today, to be rational actors in the Machiavellian sense,” he said. “They are people who calculate and think about their interests, as opposed to being whimsical or fanatical.”
Farhang added that the development of weapons is to be more of a deterrent to forces surrounding the country, rather than to use them against Americans or their allies.
According to the lecture, Iran had been pursuing the nuclear option since the early 1970’s. The Shah at the time, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, wanted to ensure Iranian security if the good relations between Iran and the U.S. were to deteriorate.
“Revolutionary Iran dissolved the nuclear program soon after its ascendance to power because they did not trust anything done by the Shah and because the new Prime Minister did not trust the science behind it,” Farhang said.
However, after the Iran-Iraq war, they saw the necessity in redeveloping the weapons capacity. Rather than the Western aid that they sought last time, Iran received investment and supplies from the East, including Russia, China and Pakistan.
Rather than being tied down and surrounded by the American hegemon, Iran wants to be able to assert itself as a major player in the region.
Four things must happen for relations to normalize between the two countries, according to Farhang.
This includes security guarantees from the United States, saying that the surrounding Americans will not invade the nation. The Americans have a military presence in nearly every country bordering Iran, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey, and the Iranians feel threatened.
Iran wants the sanctions lifted. According to Farhang, the revolution failed in its attempt to provide income equality and freedom for its people. The sanctions have strangled the economy while strengthening the regime, much like Saddam’s Iraq, he said.
“If the Iranian economy were to be able to flourish with Western investment, this could be beneficial for both countries,” Farhang said.
Because of its history in the region, Iran wants respect. The American attempts to isolate the country for the last 28 years have failed.
Most importantly to Farhang, any negotiations cannot have any preconditions. Iran has said they listen to the United States, but they will not act because conditions are unfair.
“The nuclear issue has come to symbolize the nature of this estrangement between the two countries,” he said. “But the estrangement is not limited to the nuclear issue.”
Both countries have a stake in many issues, according to Farhang. A peaceful Persian Gulf is in Iran’s interest, he said. “I really don’t understand why the U.S. and Iran cannot engage and negotiate their differences because I do not see any objective and organic conflict of interest between the two countries.”
Farhang lectures at UC Berkeley.