Wine Diplomacy, Wardrobe Policy

Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif and the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton avoided, as is their custom, shaking hands on Tuesday as they met in Geneva for the latest round of nuclear negotiation. Their polite nods of hello were expected by journalists, accustomed to such greetings after many years of talks, but something else stood out at the UN's Geneva headquarters.

Why was the relief carving of a naked man in the background, inspired by Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, covered up by a large white sheet? The Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve claimed UN authorities had cloaked the artwork to avoid offending the Islamic Republic's delegation. UN officials did not comment on whether the work suddenly required restoration or whether Islamic sensibilities were at stake.

Regardless, it's not the first time the West shows aesthetic flexibility in order to prevent the embarrassment of Iran's diplomats. Catherine Ashton, who leads the meetings on behalf of the six world powers, decided to dress more conservatively in nuclear talks in Istanbul last year after an Iranian conservative newspaper retouched her photo from previous rounds to raise her neckline to meet the Islamic Republic 's skin exposure standards

The Nuclear Cat-walk

When Ashton wore a black suit with a white scarf tucked around her neck last year, Iranian state TV called the choice an ‘effort to respect’ Iran and  the conservative website Tabnak deemed the outfit a ‘positive step which demonstrated that the status of the Islamic Republic is important to her and the West.’

While apparel seems at best a matter on the fringe of substance, what has been called ‘Ashton's Wardrobe Diplomacy’ is not so insignificant. Iran's authorities have shown many times that they are very serious indeed when it comes to such Islamic codes in talks.

Some of the Islamic Republic's critics argue these matters of religious etiquette are just excuses Iran resorts to when it is cornered in the talks or simply doesn’t want to show up at diplomatic meetings.

Last month when a much-anticipated meeting between the US president Barack Obama and the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani failed to take place at a UN luncheon, some Iranian officials blamed the wine served at the ceremony. But American officials contradicted this, saying that Iran canceled the first such encounter between two countries’ presidents since the Islamic revolution in 1979 because they found it “too complicated” at the given moment.

No Wine, No Dinner

Both Iran's sensitivity to matters of décor and protocol and the receptivity of world leaders toward accepting the imposition of those Islamic values have shifted in recent years. These subtle shifts, while ostensibly concerned with wine and necklines, reveal a great deal about ready Iran and the West are to create a working space for diplomacy.

In March 1999 Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, in the midst of his effort to improve relations with the West and rebuild ties with European nations who had shut down their Tehran embassies, cancelled a visit to France due to the anticipated serving of wine at official receptions. It was clear at the time that the Western side was not quite ready for what Iranian outreach involved.

Later that year, in October, the French showed flexibility and invited Khatami again, resolving the issue by simply dropping plans for a banquet and changing the visit from "state" to "official" which would require no wine to be served. The move was seen as EU’s appreciation of Khatami's reformist policies.

In October 2002, the first visit by an Iranian head of state since the 1979 Islamic revolution to Spain was almost canceled when President Khatami insisted that he would not sit down to a meal with wine on the table. The Spanish foreign ministry said they could not dishonor the custom of drinking wine with meals and refused to offer a wine-less meal with the King.

In the end the Spanish government made a concession to show respect to the reform-minded president of Iran. It cancelled King Juan Carlos's official dinner offered in honour of President Khatami, and the Iranian side accepted the presence of women without headscarves.

Killing Me Softly With Compromises

But not everyone is happy with these compromises. As Iran's nuclear negotiations begin with the  P5+1, critics say concessions like covering the marble carving at the UN’s headquarters in Geneva is a sign that the West is softening and may ease pressure on Iran's nulcear programme.

To Iran's critics, the curtain in Geneva amounts to a cowardly retreat in the face of an Islamic Republic seeking to control not just its nuclear programme, but every building and public space in which it meets the world's diplomats, setting a regressive precedent for cultural bullying.

The independent non-governmental monitoring group, UN Watch, on Tuesday called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Swiss government to order the removal of the curtain over the ‘artistic heritage of its most famous building’, and called it a ‘dangerous kowtowing to Iran’s fundamentalist regime... that subjugates women, executes gays, and persecutes Bahais.’

Others, however, view such diplomatic flexibility as a cunning form of pressure. Such sensitivity is not designed to avoid offending Iranian officials, but to ensure the Iranian aside has no pretext for leaving the room, the building, and indeed the whole of the negotiations.

Whomever's power play the curtain in Geneva represents, it remains clear that both sides are keen to avoid distraction and get on with the far trickier business of real diplomacy.