iran unfiltered

Senior cleric Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri has released a very significant statement the day before the thirtieth anniversary of the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, in which he admits that the takeover was a mistake and implicitly supports the re-establishment of ties with the US.  His letter is in response to a series of questions submitted by the "Green Wave of Freedom", an opposition website.  I've translated key parts of his statement below.

With regard to the embassy takeover:

"The occupation of the American embassy at the beginning of the revolution, which was supported by most revolutionary sectors and Imam Khomeini, was supported by me as well.  But with the negative consequences and the extreme sensitivity it created in the American people (which effects still remain), it became clear that it was not the right thing to do.  And in principle a country's embassy is part of that country, and the occupation of the embassy of a country that was not officially at war with us has the meaning of declaring war on that country and is not a proper, just action."           

In response to a question about the lack of relations with the US, Montazeri describes how the US's actions before and during the 1979 revolution led Ayatollah Khomeini to prohibit relations with it.  Then he says:

"But it is clear that such an order is temporary and subject to changes in political and economic conditions...if national interests require that relations with America be established, then the atmosphere of tension and mistrust must not be aggravated with baseless slogans."

It's not hard here to read between the lines: Montazeri is suggesting that ties with the US would be beneficial and that the hardline camp's continued opposition is thwarting attempts at conciliation.  He makes further interesting remarks with regard to Iran's inclination to count on support from Russia and China ('the East'):

"If Iran's rulers are to make their policies and economy dependent on the East and to secure their approval instead of securing national interests, it is the wrong thing to do and goes against the slogan of 'not Eastern, not Western' that our people insisted upon in the revolution.  What difference is there between Russia and America, that the former is so relied upon and gradually given large amounts of [Iran's] state coffers, and with the latter we are not even willing to negotiate and talk (even if we feel that such talks are beneficial for the country and the people)?"

I think perhaps the key point that Montazeri makes is the connection he makes between the regime's current foreign policy moves and its tense domestic situation:

"It's clear that the rulers - with the crisis that they have created after the magnificent elections - cannot take a firm stance in the face of powerful governments, and each day they adopt the opposite position from the previous day.  And in the end this situation will undoubtedly result in harm to the people and the country.  The power of a regime is not attained through repression and the silencing of its people; rather, it is the true, free support of its people that creates a regime's power."

"In my opinion, with a brave and prudent decision the rulers can immediately free political prisoners; reverse the banning of shut-down newspapers; end favoritism in government offices and the universities and generally dissolve any tools of controlling expression and replace them with [a system of] meritocracy.  And with this revolutionary and God-supporting decision they can bring back the power to the regime that has been lost.  It is in this situation that the regime can enter negotiations [with other countries] from a position of power and dignity."

Numerous commentators have urged the US and its allies to press Iran on its human rights record as a way to gain leverage on the nuclear issue.  Montazeri is accepting this proposition and essentially giving the same advice, only to the Iranian side: only when you clean up your domestic situation, he is telling them, can you be effective in talks with the international community.