Manuchehr Mottaki
From AICbackground
Manuchehr Mottaki
Foreign Minister of Iran
"(The Islamic Republic) should not give the Europeans a more important role than they have in reality, because their carrot-and-stick policy exists only because of American and Zionist pressure."
"After the 1979 revolution (Ayatollah Khomeini) announced that Iran did not acknowledge the Zionist regime (Israel) and the apartheid regime of South Korea, and this diplomatic principle has not changed since."
"The flame of the Intifada (uprising) in Palestine is shining more than ever on the way to liberating residents of the prophets' land (Jerusalem)..."
Early Life and Education
You were born born in Bandar Gaz in the province of Golestan in 1953. Golestan is in the northeast portion of Iran, on the border of Turkmenistan. Not much is known about your childhood prior to college. You went to India to attend college. You graduated from The University of Bangalore in India in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science. After more than a decade working in Iran’s government, you received a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Tehran University in Iran in 1996. You also have a good command of the English language as well as Urdu (the language of Pakistan), Turkish languages, and Farsi (the language of Iran).
Political Career
You were a Member of Parliament in the first Majlis, after the 1979 revolution by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The Majlis became the only house of legislation after the revolution, and you were one of the founding members of this new Parliament. You served as the head of the seventh political bureau of Foreign Ministry in 1984. From 1985 to 1989, you served as Iran’s ambassador to Turkey. In 1989 you were the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Secretary General for West European affairs. You were also the Deputy Foreign Minister for International Affairs in 1989. In 1992 you became the Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal Consular and Parliamentary Affairs. You stepped away from Iran again in 1994 as the Iranian ambassador to Japan, a position that you held until 1998. In 1999 you were back with the Foreign Ministry Department as the advisor to the Iranian Foreign Minister. In 2001 you were both the Deputy Head of Culture and Islamic Communications Organization, and the Head of Foreign Relations Committee of the 7th Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission. Then in August of 2005 under the newly elected president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, you were given your most prominent position in the government to date, as the Foreign Minister.
Your Role in Iranian Government
As the Foreign Minister of Iran you have been active in discussing Iran’s continuation of its uranium enrichment programs since taking office in late August, 2005. Under pressure from the International Atomic Energy Agency in November 2004, the government of Iran suspended its nuclear enrichment program which the United States claims is being used for the development of nuclear weapons. Upon assuming power in August 2005, the new Iranian government has decided to abandon the suspension and restart the uranium enrichment. As the Foreign Minister you have been focused on arguing this issue with foreign states. You have long been considered a hard-line conservative in Iranian politics, and continue to take a hard stance on the continuation of uranium enrichment. You have claimed many times that the enrichment program is not for the development of weapons but for nuclear power plants. You argue that as Iran becomes a more modern state there is a need for better energy sources. Iran wants to back away from consumption of its own oil reserves, allowing for more oil to be sold to other countries. You are very critical of the United States and Israel for making claims that Iran is untrustworthy and sinister. President Bush named your country as part of the triumvirate ‘Axis of Evil’ in his January 29, 2002, State of the Union Address. You, along with the rest of the Iranian government have seen this insult as an unofficial declaration of war, making clear the intentions of the West to continue holding down Iran and the rest of the Islamic World. Your government is in no hurry to improve relation with the United States, though the alternative, it must be admitted, is leading nowhere fast.
In your statements regarding the continuation of Iran's uranium enrichment program, a formerly-clandestine program revealed to the world in 2003, you have criticized the United States’ role in suppressing any nuclear development in Muslim countries, even when the development is for nuclear energy, while allowing, if not encouraging and funding, Israel’s blatant development of nuclear missiles. While this is a rhetorically significant point, the fact remains that nunclear negotiators under your control as foreign minister did little more than stall the rest of the world during the year 2006, which sorely tempted the patiences of bodies that are actually sympathetic to Iran's desires and would like to see it develop a thriving civilian nuclear program, like the EU and Russia. As a result of this obstinance on your team's part, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose a new sanctions regime on Iran to thwart its access to technology that could accelerate its nuclear program. Likwise, American and Israeli military officials have been increasingly public in their assessments that Iran might have to be militarily interdicted, and therefore you enter 2007 as the chief diplomat representative of a country which might soon be at war.
Iran’s Stance Regarding Israel
Since the 1979 Revolution in Iran, your government has taken a hard stance against Israel. Israel is seen by your government and many governments in the region as Zionist invaders backed by the United States and Western Europe. Iran has publicly funded organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad, organizations that the United States and EU recognize as terrorist organizations. Your government commends these organizations for the aid and resources that they provide for the Palestinian refugees. Your government has always held that Israel needs to withdrawal from the West bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights. Iran has tested missiles capable of reaching Israel in September, 2005. This long-range missile coupled with the threat of a nuclear weapons program in Iran gives your government a place at the bargaining table and forces you to the forefront in the Arab-Israeli crisis. Your regional preeminence has since then been confirmed by the deteriorating situation in Iraq and the July 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, when it was proven that Iranian-built missiles, wielded by Hezbollah, were capable of striking the largest cities in northern Israel.
Online resources
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1466753/posts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=9585
http://www.iran-daily.com/1383/2148/html/index.htm
http://www.ict.org.il/spotlight/det.cfm?id=43
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=17654
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/22/content_393765.htm
http://www.politinfo.com/articles/article_2005_08_18_1920.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2005/iran-050814-irna03.htm
