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September 24, 2013SNAPSHOT
Frenemies Forever
The Real Meaning of Iran's "Heroic Flexibility"
Akbar Ganji
AKBAR GANJI is an Iranian journalist and dissident. He was
imprisoned in Tehran from 2000 to 2006, and hiswritings are
currently banned in Iran. This article was translated from the
Farsi by Evan Siegel.
The apparent restraint of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's
speech before the United Nations General Assembly on
Tuesday afternoon seems to have disappointed many Western
observers. They charge Rouhani with failing to showmuch of the
"heroic flexibility" that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, recently claimed would
characterize Iran's new diplomatic strategy toward the West. In
truth, the West should not be so surprised. Iran's
diplomatic offensive of recent weeks is, in fact, a significant
shift -- just not in the way most Westerners have seemedto
think.
"Heroic flexibility has never been what most foreign
commentators believe it is. It is neither a rhetorical feint to
buy
time fo r Irans nuclear program, nor is it a signal that
Khamenei is desperate to st rike a deal with the United Statesafter
ye ars of punishing sanctions. Both interpretations have it wrong,
and for the same reason -- they fail to interpret
Irans diplomatic offensive in the context of Khameneis grand
strategy, which has been consistent from the time heassumed power.
Khamenei does not want Iran to be at open conflic t with the West,
nor does he want it to be a
supplicant to the United States. He is signaling that
rapprochement is possible, but not at the price of abandoning
Iran's resistance to Western hegemony.
Khamenei has spoken of heroic flexibility several times since
becoming Irans leader over twenty years ago, and in
each instance he has emphasized that friendly dialogue is not
the same thing as friendship. In a speech on August 7,1996, before
an audience of interior ministry officials and Iranian diplomats,
he said, [1] the sphere of international
politics is a field of heroic flexibility, which is sharp faced
with the enemy. Therefore, our diplomats must be firm in
their principal positions and take as their model His Holiness
Imam Khomeinis steadfastness and manliness. In aspeech delivered to
members of the Guardian Council on September 5, 2013, he declared
[2], When a wrestler is
wrestling with an opponent and in places shows flexibility for
technical reasons, let him not forget who his opponent
is. Even enemies smile at each other while negotiating, he to ld
Revolutionary Guards commanders on September 17.
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But that does not mean that the United States should compromise
the pillars of its own identity as a Westerndemocracy. Khamenei
himself professes that he wants Iran to be a religious democracy.
The United States should
hold Iran to that standard, by reminding Khamenei that it is in
the interest of Iran and its people to continue to takesteps to
protect human rights and to liberalize its political system. Only
such liberalization, after all, can provide for
the stability of the government; and the United States should
not be ashamed that such liberalization also happens to be
consistent with American ideals.
Nevertheless, the establishment of amicable relations between
Iran and the Untied States need not wait until theyshare the same
values. The United States, after all, manages to maintain good
relations with Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, countries that are even
farther from democratic ideals than the Islamic
Republic. Of course, the United States is free to hold its
political and moral values to be above those of the
IslamicRepublic. But the only way to produce a productive
relationship with Khamenei may be to accept that he will
continue
to act as if Irans Islamic model of development is superior to
that of liberal democracy.
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[1] http://farsi.khamenei.ir/news-content?id=17885[2]
http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=23810[3]
http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=18453
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