In an interview with an official periodical, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani suggested putting the future of US-Iran relations to a referendum, backed up by a decision on the thorny issue by Iran's top echelon.

Although the Rahbord (Strategy) journal said its interview with Rafsanjani was conducted before the war in Iraq began three weeks ago, its publication came just after the fall of Baghdad.

"We missed certain opportunities, or took late or wrong measures or even did not take action," Rafsanjani said in the interview, in an apparent reference to the past failures of both Iran and the US to thaw relations.

"Our ideology is flexible," Rafsanjani asserted.

The timing was not lost on many observers, and the former president's comments, which were picked up by the official news agency IRNA, hit the front pages of most reformist papers here.

Even though Rafsanjani, who heads Iran's top political arbitration body, did not openly call for ties to be restored, his comments marked a change of tone from the usual "Great Satan" references.

In an editorial, the pro-reform Iran News said it was "intrigued by the timing" of Rafsanjani's comments, and wondered "whether Rafsanjani gave the go-ahead for the release of this story by IRNA coinciding with the downfall of the Baathist regime next door in Iraq".

Like Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Iran was lumped into an "axis of evil" by US President George W. Bush -- raising fears here that the Islamic republic could be next on Washington's hit list.

That uncertainty has been compounded by the absence of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington -- who severed ties after the 1979 revolution and the bitter embassy hostage crisis.

"The fact that such an influential figure has raised this issue now is very interesting," was the reaction of one Tehran-based European ambassador.

"Mr. Rafsanjani is an astute, pragmatic politician... so it is hard to see this as anything else than a call on the rival power groups to sit down and discuss the issue for the sake of national security."

If that is what Rafsanjani intended, he has certainly gained some quick results.

Iran News wrote that while it saw a referendum as unnecessary, it was "lamentable that that during the past two and a half decades, Iran's national interests have time and again been slighted and altogether ignored for petty political and factional interests".

"The decision makers should simply weigh the pros and cons of the issue and if deemed advantageous to our national interests, not a second should be wasted in reestablishing ties with the United States," it wrote.

On the other side of the political divide, the hardline Kayhan paper hit out at Rafsanjani for daring to cross a "red line" -- the presence of which was illustrated by the recent jailing of a group of opinion pollsters who published a survey showing most Iranians favoured restoring ties with Washington.

"Mr. Rafsanjani should not raise this matter... and should not ignore this red line," wrote the paper, reminding readers that the only figure qualified to comment on the issue was supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran's foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on Rafsanjani's interview.

But apparently keen to dampen any perception that Iran was showing weakness in the face of a US build-up on its borders, a source in the Expediency Council -- headed by the former president -- cautioned against making any "superficial analysis" that the comments were a direct response to perceived threats from Washington.

Western diplomats also cautioned that there was no US-Iran detente in sight.

"Even if there is a slight opening on the Iranian side -- and I emphasise that that is a very big if -- I doubt that this will be met by the American side," said a diplomat representing one of Washington's main European allies.

"It's the classic scenario in American-Iranian relations: just when one party shows movement, the other side hardens. You have to admit that Bush is not going to be the American president who makes up with Islamic Iran".

SPACE.WIRE