U.S. Still Cool as Iran Bids for Warmer Ties

As Iran moved to end its commercial and diplomatic isolation, the State Department on Tuesday offered little encouragement to the leaders of the Persian Gulf country that was once one of America’s best friends in the region.

Without a ripple of change in longstanding U.S. policy, the department insisted that Iran must exert its influence to gain the release of the six Americans held hostage in Lebanon and cease its support for terrorism.

“If Iran wishes to re-emerge as a full member of the community of nations, it knows well what it is expected to do,” said Margaret Tutwiler, the State Department spokeswoman.

The rigid U.S. position reflects an assessment within the Bush Administration that Iran’s leaders have underestimated the reluctance in Washington to restore ties broken in 1980 after militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The 52 Americans who were held hostage were released in January, 1981, after 444 days of captivity.

And yet, in Esfahan, a senior official of the National Iranian Oil Co. said several American firms were discussing the purchase of Iranian crude for the first time in years.

“The internal view is that they desperately want to have better ties with the West,” said a U.S. official who asked not to be identified. “They think they just open the door and we fall right in.”

The overture came Monday in Esfahan at an oil and gas conference. President Hashemi Rafsanjani and three other senior officials used the occasion to call for vastly increased economic and political cooperation with the West.

It was part of a campaign to attract foreign investment as well as diplomatic recognition. Iran hopes to raise $27 billion for a five-year economic plan that began last year.

Three of America’s friends in the Arab world are responding to the call from Tehran. Saudi Arabia and Jordan have restored diplomatic relations, and Egypt has established consular offices in Iran.