News, December 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
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‘Aid Will Not Restore Iran-US Ties’
Reuters, Arab News
KERMAN, Iran, 31 December 2003 — President Mohammad Khatami said yesterday US aid to earthquake victims in Iran, while welcome, would not alter the state of relations between the two arch foes who broke off ties nearly a quarter century ago.
“I don’t think this incident will change our relations with the United States,” Khatami told a news conference in the capital of southeastern Kerman province where officials say up to 50,000 people were killed in a quake that struck on Friday.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview with the Washington Post published yesterday that Washington was open to restoring a dialogue with Iran after “encouraging” moves by the Islamic Republic in recent months.
Powell referred to Iran’s willingness to accept US aid for the earthquake relief effort, paving the way for the first US military planes to land in Iran in over 20 years.
“There are things happening and therefore we should keep open the possibility of dialogue at an appropriate point in the future,” Powell said.
But Khatami played down the importance of the US assistance. “In incidents like this governments normally do not consider their differences,” he said. “But this has got nothing to do with political issues. The problems in Iran-US relations are rooted in history.”
“Nevertheless, I thank all... those who helped us and showed sympathy despite our different viewpoints,” Khatami said.
Washington broke ties with Iran shortly after the 1979 Revolution when radical students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and held 52 hostages for 444 days.
Khatami said that for Iran to restore ties with Washington it would “have to see a change in its methods... to create a kind of hole in the wall of mistrust between the two countries.” However, he pointed out that humanitarian aid from non-governmental organizations in the United States “shows there is no enmity between the people of Iran and the American nation.”
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03. |
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