[Peace-discuss] Obama's Nowruz message to the people and leaders of Iran

[C. G. Estabrook]

Obama's message seemed to me to be compounded of equal parts of condescension 
and mendacity, even in the jump-out quote from White House PR:

"You [IRAN], too, have a choice.  The United States wants the Islamic Republic 
of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations [WE WANT YOU TO 
GROW UP TO BE A FINE LITTLE MAN].  You have that right -- but it comes with real 
responsibilities [SAID THE PRINCIPAL], and that place cannot be reached through 
terror or arms [WHICH WE WOULD NEVER DO], but rather through peaceful actions 
that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization 
[GESTURE: HEAD PAT].  And the measure of that greatness is not the capacity to 
destroy, it is your demonstrated ability to build and create [JUST LIKE US]."

I had trouble finding a translation of Khamenei's remarks in response, and the 
summaries were particularly slanted.  In contrast, Iranian PressTV had an 
enthusiastic headline, as Juan Cole pointed out: "Iran vows response to real US 
change."

Cole summarized Khamenei's response at <http://www.juancole.com/>:

He said that the Iranian public would be offended if anyone addressed it with a 
discourse of carrots or sticks. That was when he immediately excused Obama from 
any such charge, saying the latter had a clean slate.

Elsewhere in the address he pledged, in AFP's translation, "If you change your 
attitude, we will change our attitude."

Iran's leader pointed out that the name of the US in the world at large is mud 
because of offensive US policies (he is probably thinking of wars of aggression, 
torture, etc.). He counsels that the US should change its behavior so that 
gradually its would gain the esteem of the world.

Khamenei did specify the practical steps the US might take to show it was in 
earnest.

1. He implied that the US was behind Sunni terrorism against the regime in 
Iranian Baluchistan near the the Pakistani border (Baluch are Sunnis and tribal 
and dislike the Persian, Shiite government in Tehran. Some observers have 
accused the US of fomenting terrorism among such minorities, and Khamenei 
appears to accept the theory).

2. He implicitly complained about continued US support for and use of the 
Iranian terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), whose base in Iraq (given 
them by Saddam to harass Iran) the US continues to maintain and guard despite 
the Iraqi government's desire to close it down and expel the Mojahedin. The US 
State Department has declared the MEK a terrorist organization, but the Pentagon 
is said to still deploy its members for covert ops inside Iran. In these two 
points, which are allusive in the speech, he is essentially accusing the US of 
being a major sponsor of terrorism.

3. He complained that the US continued to accuse Iran of sponsoring terrorism.

4. He complained that the US continues to accuse Iran of trying to build a 
nuclear bomb. (Khamenei and all Iranian government officials strongly deny that 
charge, saying they only have a civilian research program for energy purposes; 
US intelligence assessments back Khamenei up on all this, but the Washington 
politicians still routinely speak of taking strong measures stopping Iran from 
getting the bomb. Khamenei views such talk as a threat of aggression and sees 
the nuclear issue as a mere pretext for US neo-imperialism. The US dominated 
Iran during and after WW II and made a pro-monarchy coup in 1953, saddling the 
country with a megalomaniac shah who was subservient to US interests, until the 
1979 Islamic Revolution).

5. He complained of continued US economic sanctions and boycotts.

6. He complained of US support for Israel...


Robert Naiman wrote:
> http://www.whitehouse.gov/nowruz/
> 
> 
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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