The wind understood. From nowhere came the breeze, breaking free a portrait of Iranian resistance leader Massoud Rajavi, printed on cloth, suspended from balloons, which had been lodged in the rafters of Stade de Gerland.

In a few moments, the game would begin... History, politics, religion and sport all in a single two-hour swirl. It would obviously not be just another night of soccer.

And then down came Rajavi picture, drifting slowly, perfectly to earth, past the Iranian players as they stood in a pre-game huddle. If they saw it float by, none dared look up, and certainly no one would reach out and grab it. That image they wouldn't want falling into the hands of anyone back home. So they looked at one another and pretended nothing was happening and the banner went right on by, stopping finally at dead-center field, where the referee snatched it and walked it to the sideline just before summoning the players to begin...

Suddenly what had been set up as a potential moment of rapprochement between old foes, Ping Pong diplomacy with a bigger ball, becomes a showcase for other sentiments entirely....

And the exiles awaited their moment, not in the least interested in building bridges with the current regime in Tehran...
They were quiet now, low key. But they would announce their presence soon enough...

Inside the stadium, the scene would be remarkable, unlike anything else in this tournament, although the television directors selecting the worldwide feed seemed to work studiously to avoid showing any of it to the outside world.  Iranian fans filled at least two third to the 40,000 available seats, most of them wearing white T-shirts bearing Mr. Rajavi's picture.  And everyone did indeed know they were there, as the banners appeared from nowhere: 'Viva Rajavi';  'Down with Khamenei'; huge portraits of Mr. Rajavi and his wife, Maryam, president of the shadow government...

The Iranian players rushed to celebrate in the center of the pitch at the referee's final whistles.  Normally, a victorious team in those circumstances would run to the stands to acknowledge its supporters. But obviously, that would not be such a simple decision last night. Most of the Iranian players held back, choosing to head straight for their dressing room, to continue the party in private...

... Four Iranian players decided to take a chance.  Grabbing a flag from someone, their jerseys already stripped off their backs, they ran to the far corner of the stadium, pushed past the line of soldiers, and did their best to jump the barricades and reach the crowd.  The banners were still flying, the pictures, the slogans, but the moment was beyond all that, beyond the risk of association.

For an instant there was only joy.
 

Will This 'New' Iran Help Bring Peace to Bosnia?, Los Angeles Times, June 28

[Excerpts from an article by Richard J. Pocker, an Attorney and Former Federal Prosecutor,   who Served in 1996 as Chief Counsel to the House Select Subcommittee Investigating Iranian Weapons Shipments to Bosnia]

Ever since Mohammad Khatami, Iran's "moderate" new president, addressed the U.S. public during a CNN interview in January, wishful thinking has pushed aside better judgment among those exploring potential changes in the U.S. policy toward Iran...

The State Department's April 1998 report on state-sponsored terrorism, branding Iran as the most active sponsor of such terrorism in the world, will serve as a cold dose of reality for advocates supporting warmer relations with Iran and a larger international role for an Iranian government as yet unrepentant for its past international misdeeds.

The statement earlier this month by Iran's foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi, in which he declared that Muslims all over the world welcomed Pakistan's nuclear tests, was another chilling reminder of Iran's dangerous attitude.

Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies reportedly has dismissed the State Department's report as a "political document" with "the intellectual depth of a mud puddle." If his characterization is the result of a belief that it creates a problem for those in the Clinton administration eager to hold out the olive branch to Iran, he's right. Moreover, whatever the intellectual depth of the State Department's report, the murky cesspool of international Iranian intrigue in the past few years is far deeper than a mud puddle.

An example is Iran's sometimes public, more often surreptitious campaign for power and influence in the former Yugoslavia. There has been speculation among foreign-policy experts that, as part of a general effort to improve its relationship with the United States, Iran may offer its help in "shoring up" the Dayton peace accords and in maintaining the peace among Muslims, Serbs and Croats in Bosnia. This offer has been made and rejected in the past. It should be turned aside again....

 To entertain any offer by the Iranians to participate in the design or maintenance of peace in the Balkans is a risk that could enhance the prestige of this terrorist sponsor in a region in which Iranian influence has an unhealthy foothold. There is no point in assisting Iran's efforts to build a network in the heart of Europe for future terrorist activities. Nor,
with the rebuilding of Balkan peace so dependent on mutual trust and cooperation, should we strain relationships with our European allies, suspicious of Islamic influence since the days the Turks were attacking the gates of Vienna.
 

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