April/May 1997, pgs. 57-65

Diplomatic Doings

Iranian Representatives Observe National Day in Washington, DC

Dr. Faramarz Fathnezhad, director of the Iranian Interests Section of the Embassy of Pakistan, and deputy director Fariborz Jahansoouzan hosted a dinner reception Feb. 10 marking the 18th anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The reception, held in the Northwest Washington building used by the Interests Section since U.S.-Iranian diplomatic relations were broken in 1979, was attended by some 150 diplomats, Islamic activists, Middle East specialists and scholars, and members of the large Iranian community in the national capital area. 

—Richard Curtiss

Egyptian Ambassador Speaks at Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine

Egyptian Ambassador to the United States Maher El Sayed assessed Arab-Israeli cooperation during a Jan. 30 symposium hosted by the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine in Washington, DC. Ambassador El Sayed, who took part in the 1978 Camp David negotiations between Egypt and Israel, offered his insights into the future of the Arab-Israeli peace process and Egypt’s minimal requirements for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

“I believe the Palestinian state was born the day the Oslo accords were signed,” Ambassador El Sayed said. He added, however, that there is a long way to go until that dream can be fulfilled. “When you look at where we’ve been and where we are, we’ve made progress,” he said. Progress, by itself, however, is not enough. That progress should “serve as a springboard for further achievements.”

Referring to Egypt’s position on Arab-Israeli final-status negotiations, the Egyptian ambassador outlined four basic criteria: a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel, the return of the Golan Heights to Syria, Israel’s withdrawal from its self-defined “security zone” in southern Lebanon, and Palestinian authority over East Jerusalem. “There is no way we will accept anything less,” he said.

The ambassador also commented briefly on the American role as “honest broker” between Arabs and Israelis. “We do not delude ourselves in thinking that the United States can be totally neutral,” he said. “But there is a natural sense of justice inherent in America.”

—Shawn L. Twing