Attorney General Janet Reno's virtually total lack of interest in pursuing the heavy hitters has long since passed the point where it might be ascribed to ineptitude or inertia. More and more, the Justice Department's performance in this investigation looks like deliberate obstructionism. Her refusal to appoint a special prosecutor borders on the outrageous. Still, the signs of change are unmistakable, and they are enough to give hope to those who have looked ever since the 1979 Islamic revolution for Tehran to turn back, however hesitantly, toward the West. In last month's elections, voters enthusiastically supported candidates who seek, among other things, to ease the strictures of Islamic fundamentalism that intrude into virtually every area of Iranian life.
Many questions remain unanswered.
The most momentous is whether the nation as a whole is ready to renounce its role as a sponsor of terrorism. The jury is out on that one, but at least the movement is in the right direction. All rights reserved.