White House caught out over envoy's mission to Iran

Reports that a senior US congressman was travelling to Iran to contact Tehran's moderate leaders prompted denials in Washington. Mary Dejevsky says it may herald a thaw in relations between the two countries.

The reports that President Bill Clinton had sent Senator Tom Lantos as a special envoy coincided with the opening of the first natural gas pipeline between the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan and Iran. This event illustrates the difficulties faced by the United States if it persists in trying to isolate Iran.

There had been rumours in Washington of unofficial contacts between the US and Iran since before Iran's new president, Mohammad Khatami, extended his olive branch earlier this month, expressing respect for the "great people of the United States". Washington had denied there had recently been unofficial contacts between US and Iranian officials in Europe.

This week's reports were more substantial. The official news agency of the United Arab Emirates quoted "informed sources" as saying President Clinton had sent Senator Lantos, a Democrat from California, to Iran to assess whether hints of changes in Iranian foreign policy were genuine.

The senator's office was initially uncommunicative and the White House denied the report. But the wording of the denial - that the President "has no plans to send a special envoy to Iran" left questions. Had an envoy already been sent? Having "no plans" did not preclude the possibility. If tentative diplomatic moves were to be made, then the quiet dispatch of a presidential envoy when the Western world was otherwise engaged would be one way to do it.

The State Department, which has been zealous in implementing the policy of "dual containment", which is designed to isolate Iran and Iraq simultaneously, was more forthcoming. It said Mr Lantos was considering a trip to Iran and had broached the subject with the White House and the State Department, but: "It's something that we would discourage."

Mr Lantos himself was said to be spending the holiday in his California district, but officials said they understood he had not yet received an Iranian visa. This suggested that he had applied for a visa and that a trip was in the offing. The question is whether unintended publicity might cause it to be called off.

The task of keeping both Iran and Iraq equally isolated has proved increasingly difficult, as other countries have moved to improve relations. Although the official response to President Khatami's overture was cool, Mr Clinton disclosed shortly before Christmas that the administration was discussing relations with Iran.

US hesitation appears to reflect both concern not to be deceived into warming relations prematurely but also conflicting views about whether President Khatami either wants, or can soften, Iranian policy.