Protests sparking curiosity about Iran

Taipei is especially keen to boost exports to Iran because of the huge trade imbalance in Tehran's favor.

And even though Iran remains close to Beijing, the Iranian government has actively encouraged economic and cultural exchanges with Taiwan, showing no signs of being pressured.

Last year, Germany's Spiegel magazine reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had personally approved plans to purchase high-tech electronic monitoring equipment from Taiwan to be used at Iranian border posts.

The report attracted some international attention because Western observers believed Tehran's security forces also wanted to obtain high-tech equipment from Taiwan to monitor domestic communications.

According to the unconfirmed Spiegel magazine report, Iran's government is presently keenly interested in expanding economic exchanges with Taiwan and is even considering opening an unofficial representative office in Taipei.

After the present unrest subsides, Iran should go ahead with plans to open a representative office in Taipei and expand its unofficial ties with Taiwan.

The R.O.C. should make sure not to export any sensitive or dual-use technologies that could violate the U.S.-led embargo against Iran or assist Iran with its ambitions to become a nuclear power.

But there is no reason to discourage ordinary economic and cultural exchanges with Iran and these ties should be encouraged.

Like most other governments, Taipei would like to see a dialogue opened between Iran and the United States that would ultimately lead to a normalization of Iran-U.S. relations.

U.S. President Barack Obama has opened the door to opening such a dialogue by agreeing to talk to Iran, but Washington's plans have been put on hold by the unexpected domestic turmoil in Iran.

After the turmoil subsides, Tehran and Washington should proceed with opening that dialogue so that 30 years of animosity can finally be laid to rest.

While the U.S. and Iran will surely continue to disagree on many important issues, the two countries should cooperate to stabilize the situation in Iraq so that tensions in the region can subside.

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