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Tuesday, 08 May 2007 14:43 |
 | | L. Bruce Laingen |
By JOHN NORTH
For more than 30 minutes, L. Bruce Laingen, the former United States ambassador to Iran who was held for 140 days as a captive there, fielded questions about issues related to Iran following his May 1 speech at UNC Asheville.
ìWeíd be willing to to talk with Iran, if theyíll stop refining uranium,î an unidentified man in the audience noted. ìWhy is it that adversaries around the world say theyíll talk with them if theyíll solve our problem first? Its a poor negotiating tactic.î
Laingen agreed, but, at least in the case of Iran, ìthat is the stance
that has been taken and that weíll have to deal with ... Itís very
difficult to find a basis for discussion.î
A man asked, ìWhat objection did Iran have to the offer from the Russians ó to give the material to Russia?î
ìOn the cover, it makes no senseî that Iran rejected the Russian offer.
ìI think it comes down to they donít basically trustî anyone.
Another man queried, ìYou mentioned the need for regime change on both
sides. Our regime will change, but nothing much has happened through a
lot of regimes (in the U.S.) since you and the other hostages were
released ... So, I assume, thereís a problem with the regime on the
other side.î
In response, Laingen said, ìAgain, I think itís fair to say there can
be no progress without regime change on both sides. We restored the
shah to the throne (in 1953) and, for 25 years until 1979, we had a
government that was very helpful to our interests. We gained a lot from
it.î
However, he emphasized that ìwe cannot go in there and achieve regime changeî now without dire consequences.
The questioner then asked, ìCan you explain the nature of the poltical
structure in Iran, which seems to have a theocracy at the top with veto
power over everything?î
ìI agree with you,î Laingen said. ìItís an aberration. The secular side
of the revolution has to change. I think, in time, that aberration has
to go. We canít do it for them.î
A man noted that he and a friend visited Iran four years ago and,
ìeverywhere we went, it was absolutely wonderful. Once they learned
weíre Americans,î they were treated royally, he said. ìIn some ways,
your presentation seems to have blamed both sides. Is it not true that
the Iranian side has reached out to us and the United States has
arrogantly rejected it?î
Laingen disagreed with the manís assertion, noting that ìthe record is
pretty good that we (the U.S.) did in the pastî work well with Iran.
ìFor some reason, things changed.î
A woman asked, ìAm I correct in assuming you approved of the U.S.
involvement in the crisis in 1953,î when the shah was restored to the
throne?
ìI wasnít there,î Laingen said of the 1953 intervention. ìI wasnít in a position to make any decisions on that then.î
Veering from the subject somewhat, Laingen said, ìOn behalf of the
United States, we have felt for a long time that the Iranians owed us
an expression of regret over the hostage crisis ... Many of us (former
hostages) feel rather strongly they owe us compensation, if not an
expression of regret.î
Historically, Americans have been ìgrossly inadequate in Arabic and
Farsi (languages) ó and we still are. In 1979, I had in my political
section three or four fluent Farsi speakers at that time ó we still got
taken hostage.î
A woman asked, ìYou mentioned there is a real ayatollah teaching in the United States ó does it work the other way as well?î
ìNo,î Laingen replied. ìItís almost impossible to get into Tehranî now.
A man asked, ìDo they have enough electrical power to run enough
centrifuges to make uranium, or is this just a bargaining chip in the
bazaar?î
ìI donít know,î Laingen said. ìI donít think anybody knows. Weíre not
there. We donít have an intelligence ability in Iran today.î
He added, ìI donít think we should sell the Iranians short. They are not a dumb people ó theyíre an accomplished people.î
Regarding a question about the result if the U.S. attacked Iran,
Laingen said, ìI think thatíd be the stupidest thing we could do and I
canít believe weíd be that stupid.î
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