The time has come to repair the rocky Iran-American relationship

By SHAHRIAR ROUHANI

wenty years ago this summer, a revolution was sweeping through Iran. I was proud to be a part of it. But history has moved on, and we all need to go with it. I was a doctoral student at Yale University, and two months before the Shah's overthrow, Ayatullah Khomeini appointed me as his representative to oversee Iran's diplomatic activities in the United States and Canada.

For a while, the Islamic Revolution enjoyed a sort of honeymoon. The Prime Minister of Khomeini's provisional government was one of my personal heroes, Mehdi Bazargan, the longtime head of the Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom and Human Rights. I could foresee, however, that his gentle and rational approach could not cope with the highly emotional state of the people. So revolutionary romanticism--or what Western commentators liked to call Islamic fanaticism--prevailed. One of its prime targets was the United States, owing both to America's role in the 1953 CIA coup d'etat that brought the Shah to power, and to the deep suspicions that Washington would now try to thwart Khomeini's popular mandate. It was not surprising to me when militant students stormed the American Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979. Unfortunately, the crisis also hardened American attitudes toward Iran and, in my view, helped revive U.S. militarism. Alas, that event tragically postponed the day when Iranians could enjoy a system based on democracy and human rights. Bazargan was forced to resign immediately. I had already become a casualty of the growing radicalism: I was forced to resign as editor of Kayan, the most influential Iranian paper of the time.

The long hostage crisis and then the war on Iran launched by Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein fueled the revolutionary fury and made political outcasts of anyone who dared criticize the policies of the government. U.S.-Iranian relations collapsed as both governments launched vicious propaganda attacks against each other, I believe mainly for internal consumption. It was a great shame, given that Iranians had once held much admiration for Americans. In school, we learned the story of Howard Baskerville, a teacher at a Presbyterian school in Tabriz. During the 1906 constitutional revolution, he joined the nationalists and died trying to break a siege of the city laid by Iranian royalists.

Although many foreign commentators still speak of an Iran that is obsessed with revolution and radicalism, Iran has been evolving. Social, political and economic realities have caused the radicalism and revolutionary romanticism to subside. A new era of rationalism has dawned in our country. Tired of political antagonism, Iranians are outwardly expressing their desire for harmony with the world. We seek constructive ways of healing the wounds caused by internal civil strife and the Iran-Iraq war. The young in particular--and two-thirds of Iranians are under 25 years old--are looking for a better future. These pressures are what explain the remarkable election victory a year ago by President Mohammed Khatami, an admirer of De Tocqueville and an ardent advocate of the rule of law and civil society.

In the opinion of many Iranians, Iran's evolution now demands profound changes in the relationship between Iran and the U.S. Iran needs an end to the economic sanctions imposed by America. It needs a rapprochement with other nations to ensure its reconstruction. The U.S. needs Iran's potential as a force for peace and stability. This is a truly worthy objective, given that Iran is the only country that straddles the key energy-producing regions of the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea, which also contain numerous countries--Iraq and Afghanistan, among others--threatened with internal instability. Iran can indeed help, because it is an old nation with a great civilization, a well-educated population, a large industrial base and, of course, oil wealth.

In short, mutual interest requires an immediate end to the outdated enmity between Iran and the U.S. and the beginning of a new era of friendship. There are still some obstacles in the way. There is the "thick wall of mistrust" that both President Khatami and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have said must be broken down. But they will be overcome if our national moods can be altered for the better.

Speaking as a revolutionary who is now intent on building Iran's future, I believe this is within our grasp. We need to hear positive statements by leaders and statesmen of both countries. Thank goodness, this has finally begun to happen. We should also facilitate more cultural exchanges. The Iran-U.S. match in the World Cup on June 21 promoted better feelings in Iran toward Americans. Finally, Americans and Iranians should begin joint ventures, whether in pipelines to transport oil from the new fields of the Caspian Sea, or in combining diplomatic skills to resolve regional conflicts.

After many long years of hostility, it is now the time for peace and friendship.

Shahriar Rouhani is a professor of physics at Tehran's Azad University