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To: Scott Shumaker who wrote (7008)	1/8/1998 7:26:00 AM
From: Teddy	Respond to of 95453

Well, maybe we will see some trouble in the Middle East: Updated 7:40 PM ET January 7, 1998 Iranian Leader: No Need for Ties with U.S. By Patrick Worsnip WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, in a ground-breaking U.S. television interview broadcast Wednesday, said he saw no need at present for relations with the United States. Interviewed in Tehran by CNN, Khatami called for a "crack in the wall of mistrust" between Americans and Iranians but he made no direct proposal for a dialogue between the two countries' governments. The Iranian leader voiced respect for the American people but said U.S. leaders should apologize to Americans for their foreign policies, which he said had alienated Third World countries. "We have no need for political ties with the United States. There is a wall of mistrust between us and the United States," said Khatami, the first Iranian leader to address the American people through television since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In a first reaction, U.S. officials said Khatami's address did not go far enough and they pressed again for direct talks between the two governments. "We welcome the fact that he wants a dialogue with the American people ... but we continue to believe that the way to address the issues between us is for our two governments to talk directly," State Department spokesman James Rubin said in a statement. Khatami said American civilization was "worthy of respect" and, in a lengthy opening statement, said the American and Iranian peoples shared a common historic belief in religion and liberty. But he said Third World nations had lost trust in the United States because of its foreign policies. "I feel that American politicians should realize this fact ... and at least apologize to their own people because of the approach they have adopted," he said. Khatami said, nonetheless, that he saw the U.S. government as the legitimate representative of the American people and that he opposed the burning of the U.S. flag, an act frequently carried out in the past by Iranian demonstrators. The Iranian leader, viewed as a moderate in Tehran, braved the wrath of hardliners by giving the interview in what was widely seen as a cautious attempt to start to reverse two decades of bitter hostility between Iran and the United States. Washington has said it would be interested in a dialogue with Iran, provided Tehran was ready to discuss its alleged support for terrorism, its opposition to Middle East peace and alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. Khatami denied that Iran supported terrorism. "Terrorism should be condemned in all its forms and manifestations," he told CNN interviewer Christiane Amanpour. The Iranian president also repeated his country's denials that it was seeking nuclear weapons. "We are not a nuclear power and do not intend to become one," he said in the 45-minute interview. On the Middle East, Khatami described the Israeli government as "a racist terrorist regime" and deplored U.S. support for the Jewish state. But he also said Iran would not try to impose its views on others or stand in the way of those who seek peace with the Israelis.