Obama has offered “a new beginning” of engagement with Tehran in an unprecedented direct video message to the Iranian people.
“My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us,” Obama said.
An advisor to Iran’s president welcomed Obama’s message but said Washington had to fundamentally change policy.
Relations between Iran and the US have been strained over Tehran’s controversial nuclear activities.
The US fears Iran’s uranium enrichment programme is a cover to build atomic weapons, a charge Iranian officials deny.
Obama, like his predecessor, wants Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment programme, but is trying to build up diplomatic capital before confronting the issue, says the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7954211.stm
Did Khamenei’s ass taste good, B. Hussein?
The camel jockeys in Tehran hated GW for his tough, no nonsense approach to their Islamofascist nation- state, terrorist activities, and belligerent WMD program. Turns out they’re not too enamored with Obama, either.
Iran’s supreme leader rebuffed…..Obama’s latest outreach on Saturday, saying Tehran was still waiting to see concrete changes in U.S. policy.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was responding to a video message Obama released Friday in which he reached out to Iran on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian new year, and expressed hopes for an improvement in nearly 30 years of strained relations.
Khamenei holds the last word on major policy decisions, and how Iran ultimately responds to any concrete U.S. effort to engage the country will depend largely on his say.
In his most direct assessment of Obama and prospects for better ties, Khamenei said there will be no change between the two countries unless the American president puts an end to U.S. hostility toward Iran and brings “real changes” in foreign policy.
“They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven’t seen any change,” Khamenei said in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad.
……Khamenei asked how Obama could congratulate Iranians on the new year and accuse the country of supporting terrorism and seeking nuclear weapons in the same message.
……Khamenei, wearing a black turban and dark robes, said America was hated around the world for its arrogance, as the crowd chanted “Death to America.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090321/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_obama
Oh, this is too much.
Didn’t they get HopeyChangey’s meme? He’s closing down GITMO. He’s offered to unleash terrorists into the streets of America. (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/19/attorney-general-says-guantanamo-inmates-end/) He even changed the ‘terrorist’ moniker to ‘man-caused’ disaster.
They wanted him to win, didn’t they? That’s gratitude for ya.
How’s that ‘new beginning’ working out for you, B. Hussein?
Fuckin’ putz.