Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said immediately after the 11 September attacks, which killed some 6,500 people, that his "deep sympathy goes out to the American nation, particularly those who have suffered from the attacks."
Iran is moving aggressively to stake out a major role in the development of Caspian Basin oil and gas reserves.
At a September 19 forum in New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazzi courted US oil-sector executives and analysts, saying Iran was prepared to cooperate with Western firms in helping develop the Caspian Basin's energy infrastructure.
Iran's hardline conservative opposition has long been suspected of scheming to halt the country's nascent democracy movement. A recent videotaped confession of a hardline militant appears to confirm the existence of a conspiracy among conservative elements in Iran aimed at upholding the old order.
Since 1992, economic relations between Germany and Iran have withered. Trade has dropped by about 50 percent. During Khatami's visit to Germany, the German government announced that it would increase its export credit guarantees by up to 500 percent in an attempt to stimulate trade.
Iran's pro-reform President Mohammad Khatami concluded a groundbreaking visit to Germany on July 12. The trip largely succeeded in producing a thaw in bilateral relations. Ties had languished for several years because of several incidents.
Three months ago, Iran's democratic reformers overwhelmingly swept Parliamentary elections, proclaimed a new era of reform, and basked in the cheers of a triumphant voting public. In last week's opening session of Parliament, they were just happy to take their seats.
Iran's powerful conservatives, still reeling from their overwhelming defeat in last February's Parliament elections, took aim on Sunday at their most powerful and persistent foe: the independent, reformist press.
Conservative clerics are not inclined to stand in the way of Iran's transition to democracy, Olivier Roy, an author and expert on the region, told those attending a Central Eurasia Projects-sponsored meeting.
In the ongoing game of gradual diplomatic détente between the United States and Iran, Washington smacked the ball firmly into Iran's court last Friday with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's announcement of a lifting of U.S sanctions on key Iranian non-oil exports.
The resounding victory for reformist candidates in Iran's recent parliamentary elections may prove to be the turning point in Iran's nascent democracy movement. In any case, the election results deal a damaging, perhaps fatal blow to the country's hard-line clerics who have ruled the country for more than 20 years.
