Clerics and reformist parties to back Mohammad Khatami in the next presidential elections; Saeed Jalili and M.K. Narayanan discuss aspects of India-Iran relations; Cirincione: US not cooperating with Solana
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    • The Secretary General of the Islamic Revolution Mojahedin Organization (IRMO) Mohammad Salamati announced that his organization would back Mohammad Khatami in the presidential elections scheduled to be held next year. Salamati insisted that reformists have gained enough experiences in recent elections and that they were ready to show flexibility if Khatami did not compete, in choosing some other person1. Khatami, who was president from 1997-2004, has however sent mixed signals about his willingness to contest for the post.

    In other developments, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili met the visiting Indian NSA M.K. Narayanan and discussed among other issues, a new strategic paradigm for cooperation between the two countries. Jalili pointed out that Iran and India were two important regional powers which needed to harness their potential for further cooperation. Narayanan on his part stressed that New Delhi was determined to pursue the implementation of agreements reached between the two sides earlier, especially the IPI gas pipeline project. Towards this end, the two sides also agreed to form a joint committee tasked with facilitating the implementation of bilateral deals2.

    Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s nuclear policy advisor, Joseph Cirincione charged that the US was not cooperating with the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in his dealings with Iran regarding its nuclear programme. Cirincione noted that the next U.S. president should engage Iran in a full and open dialogue without preconditions. Iranian officials have also pointed out that there was no point in negotiating with the Europeans if the US was not a full partner in the negotiations3.

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