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Axis of Evil
Patten talks to the Iranians
2003-02-04
No, not THAT Patten, Chris Patten.
Chris Patten, the European Union's commissioner for external relations, is in Iran for a three-day visit to initiate more talks aimed at producing a trade and cooperation agreement with the Islamic republic.
He'd better hurry before the new government takes over.
The negotiations are to begin on Wednesday and Mr Patten will meanwhile be holding talks with Iranian leaders on the political bones of dissidents contention the two sides are trying to resolve. Mr Patten has been in Tehran before, but this is the first time he has come on his own as the EU's foreign affairs chief.
Enjoy the view, Chris, and be sure to see the lovely monument to all the murdered dissidents in Qom. Just ask your hosts to put it on the itinerary; they'll be happy to arrange it.
Speaking after a first round of talks with Iranian Foreign Apologist Minister Kamal Kharazi, Mr Patten made it clear that his visit panders to reflects the importance the EU attaches to relations with Iran.
Everything is important to the EU, so long as they aren't asked to do anything about it.
His trip comes just a few days after President Bush, in his State of the Union address, said the Iranian regime junta government was oppressing its own people, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism. While the Americans continue to cold-shoulder Tehran for good reasons, Mr Patten left no doubt that the Europeans are going down a different road, one of appeasement constructive engagement, involving dialogue on the concerns raised by Washington much to the annoyance of the EU.
"The Americans want you to be responsible. We in the EU are happy to buy your oil. Please, please sell us your oil?"
"We have concerns about a number of issues, including the manufacture and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction around the world," Mr Patten said.
"Not that we in the EU can actually do anything about it other than talk, you understand."
"We have different viewpoints on human rights [and] the Middle East... but we would like to try to understand one another better.
"Please sell us your oil?"
"I hope that we can actually have a better relationship and work together against the U.S. as responsible members hah of the international community to deal with problems which are common to all of us, including terrorism."

The trade and cooperation negotiations started in Brussels in December and Mr Patten will be kicking off the second round here in Tehran on Wednesday. They are linked to a separate dialogue on human rights and other political issues. The EU is insistent that the linkage is there and that economic relations won't be able to go far without progress on the other issues.
Unless the French and Belgians are put in charge, in which case a deal will be cut quickly.
The negotiations are expected to go on sporadically for many months before reaching a conclusion.
Since we'll see at least two government changes in Iran in the next year, this is a safe statement.
Posted by:Steve White

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Posted by: Ptah   2003-02-04 19:09:29  

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Posted by: Steve White   2003-02-04 15:10:20  

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Posted by: Anonymous   2003-02-04 11:18:01  

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Posted by: Rw   2003-02-04 02:23:11  

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Posted by: Anonymous   2/4/2003 11:18:01 AM  

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