Iran cautiously welcomed Barack Obama’s videotaped message for a “new beginning” between the US and Tehran yesterday, but said that the new Administration needed a change in attitude for relations between them to improve.
Aliakbar Javanfekr, an aide to President Ahmadinejad of Iran, reacted to the appeal by saying: “The Iranian nation has shown that it can forget hasty behaviour.” Iran, he said, would “not show its back” to Mr Obama if the US put its words into practice, but the new Administration needed “a fundamental change in attitude”.
Mr Javanfekr added that “minor changes will not end the differences” existing between Tehran and Washington. “Obama has talked of change but has taken no practical measures to address America’s past mistakes in Iran,” he said.
The video, which aides said took weeks to prepare and was taped in the White House on Wednesday, was aired yesterday morning to coincide with the start of the major Persian festival of Nowruz, which marks the beginning of spring and the Iranian new year. Mr Ahmadinejad and the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, did not mention the overture in speeches marking the 12-day holiday.
In a rare gesture from Israel that appeared to be coordinated with Mr Obama’s video, President Peres also sent a greeting to the people of Iran, praising what he called a great and ancient culture and saying that they would be better off without their hard-line leadership.
On the streets of Tehran the reaction to Mr Obama’s speech was mixed. “I hope this will help melt the ice between the two governments,” Hasan Mahmoudi, a street vendor, said. However, Ali Mohammadi, a student, said: “There is little optimism for a change in Iran-US ties.”
Mr Obama told Iranians: “You too have a choice. The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right, but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilisation.” Significantly, reflecting what Mr Obama’s advisers regard as only a cautious first step by the President to try to get the two sides talking, he did not mention any of the issues dividing the two countries: Iran’s nuclear programme, its hostility to Israel and its sponsorship of Hamas and Hezbollah. He focused instead on what they have in common “in this season of new beginnings”.
Last night Robert Gibbs, Mr Obama’s press secretary, said that the Administration had already planned a next phase to encourage dialogue with Tehran. Pressed whether a “step two” had been articulated on paper, Mr Gibbs said: “There is, and there are many more, but none of which I am going to get into today.”
US policy towards Iran is in the midst of a big review, and while military action against the country to halt its alleged nuclear weapons programme is not off the table, Mr Obama’s advisers believe that there are only two realistic options left with Tehran: direct diplomacy to try to stop the nuclear programme, or a policy of containment involving Israel and Sunni Arab allies if Iran ultimately gets the bomb. There are myriad complicating factors and obstacles, and the Obama team is clear-eyed as to the difficulty of the task.
The opaque nature of the Iranian leadership is one of those complications. The ultimate authority over its nuclear programme is Mr Khamenei, not Mr Ahmadinejad. There also indications that time is against Mr Obama. Admiral Mike Mullen, America’s top military officer, said recently that Iran already had sufficient nuclear material for one bomb.
The level of mistrust is also profound. Mr Javanfekr blamed America’s “hostile policy towards Iran” for the tensions and said that the country “will never forget” the 1953 US-backed coup that overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohamed Mossadegh.
Source:the times
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