“We Hope for Our Ties with Iran to Develop,” Says Czech’s Chargé d’Affaires.

The Czech Republic is an EU member which came to existence first after the Velvet Divorce from the former joined state of Czechoslovakia. As reported by the World Bank, the Czech Republic is a developed country which owns the highest index of human development among Central and Eastern European countries. Due to its existence in the form of Czechoslovakia, hence its dependability, Iran-Czech ties used to be managed in accordance with its reliance on the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. Therefore, every approach and attitude was far from an autonomous nature. Following its independence, Czech’s policies and priorities underwent considerably sweeping changes, and its leaders sought to make the marketing economy and democratic parliamentary governance indispensable components of their politics in addition to an all-time intention to enhance the country’s ties with the west more than before. After President Rouhani won the office in Iran in 2013, Iran and Europe have started new series of freshened relations which, on the condition that Iran reaches a final pact with P5+1 about its nuclear case, can mark a brand refreshing chapter in history of Iran-Europe ties, including those with the Czech Republic.

AVA Dilplomatic’s Exclusive Interview with Petr Stepanek, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tehran

So, shall we start the interview taking a look at your diplomatic background? Where did Your Honor serve before you came to Iran?

Well, I served in Croatia and Turkey, and for a short-term posting, I was in London.

Which year was the time when you were in Turkey?

I came straight from Ankara to Tehran. So it was last year. I was there since 2010 till 2013.

Were you ambassador there or in charge of consulate affairs?

I was the deputy head of mission there.

So, it is kind of like being vice president of the embassy.

Yes, something like that, in charge of political issues and running the embassy.

You were in Turkey when aggressions and conflicts were happening inside the country.

Yes, it was two years, from 2011 to 2012, when actually there were two waves of violence of PKK.

How does the Republic of Czech view ties with Turkey? I mean, on what level are the ties between the two countries?

On standards level, on the level of ambassadors.

I meant to ask about the international viewpoint of Czech. What are the top priorities in the foreign politics of the Czech Republic in Turkey?

Of course, there are two main priorities. One was the accession process of Turkey to the European Union, and the other was the economic cooperation between the two countries.

And before you were in Turkey, you had been in Croatia, right?

Yes.

Was your position the same as Turkey when you were in Croatia?

Yes, just the same.

Did you begin your diplomatic career right there in Croatia?

Before, I was at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of course.

Which section did you work at the most while you were working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Was it European studies or Middle-East section?

It was South-East of Europe, including Turkey.

It really interests me to know what you graduated in.

I originally studied history and Turkology, Turkish literature and language.

So you have done your studies in the Ottoman history.

Yes, mainly Ottoman history.

Are you here as Charge d’Affairs, yeah?

Yes, as Charge d’Affairs.

We hope for the ties of the two countries to promote to a higher level and we see you as ambassador here.

Oh, thank you very much, we will see.

I really wonder to know what priorities you were tasked with when you first were appointed in charge of the Czech diplomatic service here.

Mainly, it is taking care of our bilateral relations, the political and cultural ones. Also, one of the objectives is to improve economic relations hoping that there will be an agreement between Iran and P5+1 and economic sanctions lifted.

You are quite well informed of, let’s say, the economic give and take between Iran and Czech. What have been the most recent import and export products the two countries had trades on?

Our economic activities decreased significantly in last couple of years, esp. after the recent sanctions were introduced.

The balance sheet of trades between Iran and Czech tells me that the level of economic activities has always stayed negative. Why is that so?

Negative from which side you mean?

When we want to establish an analysis between our imports and exports, our imports have always been on a higher level in ratio to the exports we have conducted.

It depends also on statistics and which methodology is used.  But generally, our economy is much more export-oriented. So we are exporting goods, like machinery, cars, locomotives, technological units, electronics, pharmaceuticals etc. And on the Iranian side, we imported notably oil and possibly, in the future, it might be also gas. After the last wave of sanctions in 2012 when the E.U. banned the import of Iranian oil, the trade decreased significantly, especially our import from Iran, but also our export to Iran.

Last year, the most important goods Iran exported to the Czech Republic were groceries and dried grape and raisin.

Yes, that is correct.

I suppose Iran can pursue a very active cooperation with Czech Republic in terms of exporting groceries. Czech Republic is believed to be powerful in the realm of packaging. Is it possible to invite merchants from Czech Republic over to Iran to have a joint collaboration? For example, the goods can be produced here in Iran and packed there in Czech Republic.

Well, that is a rather specific question. In the area of the mutual economic cooperation, we prepared a Joint Business Forum in September here in Tehran. Iran Chamber of Commerce and Czech Chamber of Commerce are our main partners and over 20 companies from the Czech Republic come to Tehran to explore potential for future cooperation. Of course, in this respect an agreement about Iranian nuclear program and lifting of sanctions would be extremely helpful.

Which companies are planned to take part in the forum?

The main areas the forum covers are transportation, machinery, energy, pharmaceuticals, textile etc.

So we are likely to witness a joint economic forum to be held in Prague, too.

I hope so, yes. But now we are more focusing on the event which takes place in Tehran.

Iran’s trying currently to disorientate itself from sole reliance on oil, and let’s say, drive itself more to use more of nuclear energy, and that is exactly a path on which a lot of other countries have trodden thus far, esp. your country. How can Iran live up to such predetermined objectives? And how can it obtain or achieve nuclear science without tensions and the least amount of conflicts with other countries?

Of course, I’m not in a position to give such an advice to Iran, but as far as the Czech Republic is concerned, we have two nuclear power plants mostly built by Czech companies and one research facility near Prague. We don’t have any problems with the international community thanks to our transparency. In case of any problem, a member of the IAEA can come from Vienna and control any part of our nuclear program in the Czech Republic. This is the way they can make sure that there is zero risk of proliferation.

We can conclude that enrichment is not economical, but I gather from your words that you do enrichment in your country.

Yes. Our enrichment is just for research purposes and all the enriched uranium is being expatriated and sent abroad for further processing. Because for the Czech Republic it is much more economical and safer to buy the needed fuel for the nuclear plants from abroad, now from Russia, than to produce our own.

And apart from Russia, also Argentina and Australia provide fuels.

We have two nuclear plants made of Russian technology. One of them used for some time US made fuel.

We can conclude that the Czech Republic is wisely making decisions to conduct lobbies both in the East and in the West. So that’s the success pattern.

Now, we only supply our nuclear fuel from Russia. A couple of years ago, there was an international competition for acquiring the nuclear fuel, and the State Nuclear Safety Institute decided for the Russian one. In coming years, there will be another competition and the result might be different. There are many providers all around the world, but we should pay due attention which one of them fits best our facilities.

Some people inside Iran are of the belief that the west tends rather to figure out how developed Iran is in terms of its nuclear technologies or military capabilities, and the talks are taking place in the name of transparency. They severely think after the west succeeds in achieving a final agreement with Iran, they will turn the matter of human rights in Iran into a pressing matter, and later, get to Iran’s missile capabilities. This presupposition is very much prevalent among the Iranian Conservatives.

The basic principle of any transparency or verification procedure from the IAEA is that the international community needs to know a hundred percent about nuclear programs of any given country. The international community wants to ensure that Iran’s nuclear activity is peaceful, and for that purpose, it needs the nuclear program to be 100% transparent. I think countries with highly developed nuclear facilities like China, Russia, the US, Britain, France and Germany probably do not need to gather such information, for they can obtain whatever they want if they want to. The issue is that they want to put the Iranian nuclear program into cooperation with the international community. Czech Republic supports this process, and we are also optimistic about the possibility of a deal to be made by fall of this year.

The Czech Republic can set a fine example inside Iran so as for the government to extend its developments in transportation systems after the subsidy distribution is implemented. It can much contribute to Iran to renovate and restore its transportation systems. Is there any plan for that?

One of the objectives of the business forum that takes place in September in Tehran is to present Iranian companies, institutions and municipalities with opportunities the Czech companies can offer in these areas.

For such purpose to turn out to be a success, plans and arrangements are needed with municipalities and other governmental institutions. Do you have any plans to meet with the governors?

We already met with the vice-mayor of Isfahan, and they are already cooperating with some companies. Our objective is to get Czech municipalities, institutions and governmental and non-governmental organizations to know the Iranian counterparts and that was also what the business forum was aimed at.

Were your activities limited to Isfahan?

For the time being, yes, but we want to expand.

Isfahan was a pilot for the project?

Well, it was the first opportunity.

So, are there any cultural give and take between Czech and Iran?

I am keen to increase the presence of the Czech Republic as long as I am in Tehran. Culture is not necessarily the Czech-language one, because, for instance, we are making arrangements with a publishing house to have an event about Franz Kafka. We are trying to increase our cooperation with cultural centers in Iran and we organize a concert for one of our famous violinists in the Niavaran Cultural Center in September.

What are your plans to invite your artists?

We are looking at a yearly basis and we receive budget for every year separated. So it depends on the allocated budget for that year. My plans are to increase the cultural presence of the Czech Republic and Czech culture in a broader sense here. And in Iran, I think we have a lot of things to do.

Vaclav Havel was one of the most prominent figures in the history of the Czech Republic. He was a scientist and politician. How did he bring about the political changes?

In 1990s, he was the leading and respected figure when the political changes came to the Czech Republic, of course. However, it was achievement of the whole nation, not just that of one person.

Only because the political changes happened in your country in peace, we can set an example out of them. Where does it stem from?

I think that was quite normal it was happening peacefully. It was happening in the same time – dissolution of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. What was abnormal, in my opinion, were the incidents of the South-East Europe. People should be able to come to the table with common sense and make a decision about “we cannot live together any longer.”

How much can the concept of religion be held responsible for the Balkan Conflicts?

I don’t think religion can be a good excuse for such conflicts in the 1990s. I think that is just politics. The problem was that the people didn’t want to achieve a peaceful solution. Religion has always been a part of the people’s lives in Balkans, be it Orthodox Christians, Catholics or Muslims…but as I say, the thing is that religion is not guilty in this. People are.

So if you approve of the fact that religion cannot be found guilty of causing violence, why is there huge proportion of Islamophobia all over the European countries?

It is again a political issue, not a religious issue. And on the other hand, I would like to add that I’m afraid that the so-called Islamophobia is too often exaggerated by the leaders of the Muslim world, as it is actually not so much present in Europe.

So, isn’t there Islamophobia in Europe, you say?

I don’t want to pick up a particular country, but I don’t think it exists as a major political concept in Europe. If you go to the roots of this word, Islamophobia actually means fear of Islam, as phobia means fear of something. It is nothing specific for the western world. It is natural that people are afraid of what they do not know. You can find the signals of such a fear vis-a-vis Europe from other corners of the world too.

Don’t you believe that the ISIS invading Iraq can cause Islamophobia? Many of the extremists helping the ISIS have come from Europe. Aren’t the European countries worried of their return?

If they want to get back to Europe and pursue their terrorist activities, then that would bring everything further. Although there might be some politicians that can try to make a political profit out of it, I would like to repeat, that Islamophobia does not have the meaning and scale Europe or the West are much too often accused of.

You are a man of history. Considering the developments of the Middle East, would you think that the region has begun to grow a democratic trend?

It is a very difficult question I must say. The recent crisis of institutions in most of the Middle Eastern countries is not commensurate with acquiring easily and quickly democratic regimes. But I do not want to be pessimistic about it. There is always a chance and the potentials are there! But the problem is that people should know the democracies and learn how to achieve it, for that it is a long term process. Turkey is an example of how long a process of democracy can take.

And what role can Iran play in this?

I think it is not appropriate for me to give advice to Iran or to any country. Every country can play a role for itself in the area of development of democracy and human rights.

We asked historical, philosophical and of course, nuclear questions. And the more we asked about politics, the more you related it to economics. And finally, the picture you gave us from the Middle East which is very moot and vague. What is the picture you shall give us about the future of the Iran-Czech relations?

I think that is very difficult to depict a clear picture of the Middle East these days. On the other hand, bilateral relations between Iran and the Czech Republic are on a good track and we can see they are positively developing in many areas. I am very happy about that.

The smoke that is rising from the fire in Iraq and Syria is clouding the Middle East. Is it possible that another fire be set?

I hope not. The sort of conflicts which has been evolving in Iraq or raging in Syria for almost four years now is a danger for stability and security for every single person in the region. I hope that future of the Middle East will be peaceful, and if people come to the decision to change something, they would come to the same table and talk about it with common sense.