SPIEGEL Interview with Iran's Foreign Minister: 'The West Lacks Political Maturity'

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SPIEGEL: The victims of your legal system included highly respected people like Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president under the former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, Mohammed Atrianfar, an adviser to Khatami's predecessor, Hashemi Rafsanjani, and the well-known journalist Issa Saharkhiz, who was arrested after an interview with SPIEGEL.

Mottaki: The accused have acknowledged their mistakes.

SPIEGEL: But those were extorted confessions.

Mottaki: How can you claim that? The confessions were made in an open atmosphere, in the presence of media representatives. They were also repeated in front of other witnesses.

SPIEGEL: The charges included contact with the West. What's wrong with that?

Mottaki: There is nothing inherently wrong with it. We have had contact with the West for 150 years, and we promote cooperation. But in these cases we are talking about concrete instructions that the accused were given. A number of Western news services deliberately used these people.

SPIEGEL: Isn't the brutal crackdown by the security apparatus a sign that the Ahmadinejad government is finished, and that the only way it knows to stay in power is to use repression?

Mottaki: This government has already been in office for a year and will remain in power for another three years, that is, for the full four years for which it was elected. But what is finished is the nefarious game that was intended to distort our election victory. The Iranian people are a cultivated and intelligent people. No one can manipulate them.

SPIEGEL: Ahmadinejad came into office five years ago promising to fight mismanagement and corruption. But the situation has only worsened under his leadership. The inflation rate is estimated to be at least 25 percent, and half of Iranians live at or below the poverty level.

Mottaki: This sort of propaganda is merely meant to show that the sanctions are working. Look at our economic growth, especially in the industrial sector. Note the reduction in the inflation rate, the upturn in the market and our growing trade relations with many countries, even with countries that voted for the resolutions. The sanctions have made us immune to the global economic crisis that has hit other countries, including those in Europe. We have become self-sufficient. Iran is exporting wheat for the first time. Despite the sanctions, we have launched a satellite into space. And we have now mastered uranium enrichment.

SPIEGEL: The United States and the EU, in particular, have implemented sanctions that go beyond the United Nations Security Council resolutions. They are now affecting the important oil industry and gasoline imports. Were you surprised by the Europeans' tough approach?

Mottaki: Europe will undoubtedly suffer more under the new sanctions than we will. Europe will be the big loser in relation to this policy. We already reduced our trade relations with Europe considerably in recent years. We now produce some of the goods ourselves, and we have found new suppliers for the rest. We're not concerned about our supply of gasoline and other energy sources.

SPIEGEL: Did Turkey and China step in?

Mottaki: You don't actually expect me to tell you about the details of the agreements?

SPIEGEL: The German government was particularly adamant about setting a rigid course. Has this affected relations adversely?

Mottaki: If your government is not interested in expanding and deepening our relations, Iran doesn't have to run after it. We think it's beneath the dignity of the German people to support a certain US policy. My recommendation is for Germany (to pursue) an independent policy.

SPIEGEL: And the recommendation from Germany is that you show a willingness to compromise in the nuclear conflict.

Mottaki: I would like to direct a comment at your foreign minister, Mr. (Guido) Westerwelle, and his European counterparts: We don't want more than what is our right. We have created this right without outside assistance. And I think the best thing now would be to recognize this right, within the framework of the appropriate provisions and regulations.

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• Part 1: 'The West Lacks Political Maturity'
• Part 2: 'We Don't Want More than What Is Our Right'
• Part 3: 'Anyone Who Attacks Iran Will Regret It'