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Email to FriendEpiscopal Church official joins call for 'interest section' in Tehran
Shea, Mary Ellen McNish, general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee and Ron Flaming, director of international programs for the Mennonite Central Committee, have sent a letter to President George Bush and presidential contenders senators John McCain and Barack Obama, writing, “For too long, the U.S. policy of non-engagement with Iran has brought us inflammatory words and provocative actions and has failed to reduce tensions or move toward a more just and peaceful relationship."
The three, who were part of an ecumenical delegation to Iran in 2007, say in their letter that "based on our own experience, we write to support such action as an important step toward positive engagement between our two nations."
Their letter follows a number of press reports that the State Department is seriously considering opening an interest section in Tehran, interests now handled by the Swiss Embassy there. Such an opening would mean that U.S. diplomats would be stationed in Iran for the first time since the hostage crisis of 1979.
Such a section would be similar to one which has operated in Havana, Cuba, since 1977. That section includes both a political and economic section and a public diplomacy program.
One purpose of an interests-section office would be to perform consular duties such as issuing visas. Iran has its own interest section at the embassy of Pakistan in Washington, D.C. The government in Iran would have to agree to the presence of U.S. diplomats in Tehran, but President Ahmadinejad is said to have indicated he would consider such a request favorably.
In the letter, the authors note that upon their return in 2007, their group of Mennonites, Quakers, Episcopalians, Evangelicals, Catholics, United Methodists and a representative of the National Council of Churches "issued a call to the Iranian and U.S. governments, urging the United States to engage in direct, face-to-face talks with Iran; cease using language that defines the other using 'enemy' images; and promote people-to-people exchanges including religious leaders, members of the Iranian Parliament/U.S. Congress and civil society."
The current letter says that "the United States was not ready to act then but it appears ready now." The authors acknowledge that a U.S. interests section in Tehran "would not transform the challenges between our nations overnight, but it would be a more positive step than another round of sanctions and would raise the hope of a change from isolation to engagement and a constructive relationship that would benefit the people of both lands."
The full text of the letter to Bush, McCain and Obama follows:
We have read with great interest discussion of the possible opening of a U.S. Interests Section in Tehran. Based on our own experience, we write to support such action as an important step toward positive engagement between our two nations.
In February 2007 we had the unique experience of meeting for more than two hours with Saeed Jalili, then Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs, and now its nuclear negotiator. During our week-long trip to Iran, our ecumenical delegation composed of Mennonites, Quakers, Episcopalians, Evangelicals, Catholics, United Methodists and a representative of the National Council of Churches, met with both government and religious leaders, including President Ahmadinejad and former President Khatami. These conversations confirmed our view that the United States should be taking steps toward opening direct face-to-face talks with Iran.
For too long, the U.S. policy of non-engagement with Iran has brought us inflammatory words and provocative actions and has failed to reduce tensions or move toward a more just and peaceful relationship. Some may say that it is no surprise that religious leaders would call for increased diplomacy, that we are naïve to put our faith in words rather than action. But no one would call the Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee Lee Hamilton, naïve. And the group forcefully made our point in its 2006 report when, addressing regional concerns, it said:
"It is our view that in diplomacy, a nation can and should engage its adversaries and enemies to try to resolve conflicts and differences consistent with its own interests. Accordingly, the Support Group should actively engage Iran and Syria in its diplomatic dialogue, without preconditions." (Iraq Study Group Report, Dec. 6, 2006, p. 36)
During our 2007 meeting with Jalili we were open and frank. We raised concerns about Iran’s nuclear plans and denial of the Holocaust, and explained that for many U.S. citizens, their only knowledge of Iran was the hostage crisis. He reminded us of difficult issues that had undermined U.S.-Iranian relations from U.S. support of Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war to our shooting down of an Iranian domestic airliner in 1988.
Jalili asked us to be "messengers for peace." Immediately upon our return, at a press conference in Washington, D.C., we issued a call to the Iranian and U.S. governments, urging the United States to engage in direct, face-to-face talks with Iran; cease using language that defines the other using 'enemy' images; and promote people-to-people exchanges including religious leaders, members of the Iranian Parliament/U.S. Congress and civil society.
We believe the opening of a U.S. Interests Section in Tehran would be a small but important step toward achieving these three goals. While not a full-blown embassy, it would allow for ongoing face-to-face talks between Washington and Tehran, without having to rely on our allies to interpret motives and suggest possible responses. Such talks are the most effective means toward reducing rhetoric and language that inflames. An Interests Section would also greatly facilitate the now-difficult, expensive visa process that forces Iranians to travel to Dubai or Turkey to apply for a U.S. visa and then return weeks later to pick it up. U.S. citizens traveling to Iran need to apply for a visa through the Iran Interests Section at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington.
Seventeen months ago, we concluded that it was time for a new day in U.S.-Iranian relations. The United States was not ready to act then but it appears ready now. A U.S. Interests Section in Tehran would not transform the challenges between our nations overnight, but it would be a more positive step than another round of sanctions and would raise the hope of a change from isolation to engagement and a constructive relationship that would benefit the people of both lands.
Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee
Philadelphia, PA
Ron Flaming
Director of International Programs
Mennonite Central Committee
Akron, PA
Maureen Shea
Director, Office of Government Relations
Episcopal Church
Washington, DC
2007
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