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Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-opinion-deciphering-foreign-policy/25193134.html
Deciphering the Direction of Iran's New Foreign Policy
(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Mardo Soghom - The quintessential question is whether Tehran is ready to make a major change in its foreign policy and put aside its traditional anti-U.S. stance. Hossein Alizadeh, a former Iranian diplomat who now lives in Europe, believes that with the exception of its willingness to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program, the Islamic republic has not yet shown any readiness to normalize ties with the U.S. or give up its long-held anti-American positions and rhetoric. It is an ideological principle for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to carry on the uncompromising positions set out 35 years ago by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic. This ideology has been the basis of recruitment and mobilization of supporters and fighters and also justification for numerous aggressive and violent policies both domestically and internationally. Too much has been invested for Khamenei to give it up. Regime survival is an overriding factor. How much can Khamenei give up or change in Iranian policies without endangering the regime's survival? If Khamenei makes a drastic change in relations with the U.S., other things will follow: Ordinary people will yearn for openness, social freedoms, and a better economy. Reformist activists will feel empowered and emboldened to ask for more. Gradually, more openness will bring a larger foreign - Western - footprint into the country. Khamenei, most clerics, and Revolutionary Guards think of this as a nightmare.