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01/30/09
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US Denies Conciliatory Iran Letter Planned
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By
VOA News
U.S. must change Iran policy
Omid Memarian, SF Chronicle
President Obama has promised to restore the United States' moral
authority in the world. In order to do so, the new administration
should revise U.S. foreign policy that has proved a political
failure and undermined respect for international human rights.
Is Gates Undermining Another Opening to Iran?
by Gareth Porter, IPS
WASHINGTON - When U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates accused Iran
of "subversive activity" in Latin America Tuesday, it raised the
question whether he is trying to discourage President Barack Obama
from abandoning the hard line policy of coercive diplomacy toward
Iran he has favored for nearly three decades.
An Iranian conundrum
Economist
IF COUNTRIES like Iran are willing to
unclench their fist, Barack Obama said this week on Arabic
television, they will find an "extended hand" from America. You
might expect Europe to react with a fresh outburst of Obamamania.
After all, Europeans like to talk. The European Union, represented
by its diplomatic big beasts-Britain, France and Germany-has spent
years, together with Russia and China, talking to Iran, in a bid to
curb its nuclear ambitions with a set of sticks and carrots. |
The U.S. State Department has denied a British newspaper report that the Obama
administration is drafting a "conciliatory" letter to Iran.
White House and State Department spokesmen said Thursday nobody from the
administration has asked anyone at either place to prepare such a letter. The
State Department spokesman added he could not rule out the possibility that
someone at State had taken the initiative to write one.
The Guardian newspaper
said it learned that the U.S. State Department was working on a letter aimed
at unfreezing U.S.-Iranian relations. The paper said it was a response to
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter of congratulations to Mr. Obama
on his election.
President Obama has said he is reviewing Mr. Ahmadinejad's letter and will
respond appropriately.
In an interview earlier this week with the al-Arabiya television network, Mr.
Obama said warmer relations with the Islamic nation are possible.
In the interview, President Obama repeated his inaugural address pledge to
extend a hand to countries such as Iran if they are "willing to unclench their
fist."
Mr. Obama promised to lay out a general framework and approach over the next
several months on how the U.S. will proceed with Iran.
Thursday, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Iranian Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his country believes that if Mr. Obama changes
U.S. policy in the Middle East, the U.S. president will find a more
"cooperative" region.
On Wednesday, President Ahmadinejad called on the Obama administration to make
fundamental changes to U.S. foreign policies. He said Washington must apologize
for what he called 60 years of crimes against the Iranian people and withdraw
its troops from around the world.
The U.S. has a strong military presence on both sides of Iran, in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
U.S. officials have urged Iran to end its controversial uranium enrichment
program and what they call the country's activities supporting terror in the
Middle East.
Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, ruled out a general dialogue with
Tehran due to Iran's defiance of international demands that it stop
controversial parts of its nuclear program.
Washington and its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons
under cover of a civilian energy program - a charge Tehran denies.
New White House WMD Czar Wants Immediate Talks with Iran, to 'Manage' North
Korea Until it Collapses
ABC News
"The discussion today is on the Greater
Middle East," Council on
Foreign Relations official Gary Samore (suh-MORE-ay) said
last week, "and I've always wondered what's so great about it."
The crowd laughed.
"It seems to me it's a part of the world
where most of the fanaticism and violence and conflict and tension
somehow seems to have become concentrated. So the president doesn't have
so much of an inbox as he has a Pandora's Box to deal with."
Samore's view: The Obama administration
should meet as soon as possible with a representative of Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to see if they can begin a dialogue.
And that Pandora's Box is now Samore's to
deal with as well. |
... Payvand News - 01/30/09 ... --
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