Opinion
Iran: Will talks happen under Obama?
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama made a "talk to our enemies" position a highlight of his diplomatic vision, using that stance in particular to underscore how American foreign policy under him would change toward Iran. But neither close Obama advisers nor Iran experts are expecting a rush to dialogue with Tehran come Jan. 20, for a number of tactical and event-driven reasons [ Learn More ]
Nov 20, 2008, 18:14

Opinion
Diplomacy Talks: Moving Forward on Iran
As noted in last week’s article entitled “Re-evaluating the Iran Threat,” it is unlikely that Iran is building a nuclear weapon. However, even if it does, an Iranian nuke would not be the threat to international security that many politicians and analysts suspect. However, the majority in this country seems to feel the opposite way, including President-elect Obama, for whom Iran’s nuclear program is presumably a top priority. [ Learn More ]
Nov 18, 2008, 18:11

Opinion
Grabbing Obama's Ear on Iran
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s election congratulations to Barack Obama – the first from the Islamic republic to a newly elected U.S. president since the overthrow of the Shah – hint that even Tehran’s conservatives may be ready to accept U.S. concerns as part of "an approach based on justice and respect." But our own conservatives at home are mounting a fierce campaign to foreclose any change in approach. [ Learn More ]
Nov 13, 2008, 18:59

Opinion
Obama's Iranian challenge
An Iranian official in Tehran recently reminded me of Ayatollah Khomeini's fondness for comparing the relationship between the US and Iran to that between a wolf and a lamb. But the official went on to add his own twist, "Nearly 30 years have passed, and we are not that lamb anymore, and maybe the US is not the same wolf it once was." His point was that Iran no longer feels the deep inequality with the US that it did in the past, and that it may be time to try engagement. [ Learn More ]
Nov 13, 2008, 18:52

Opinion
Yes we can talk to Iran
I'm thankful McCain lost, but an Obama presidency gets me about as giddy as I've been these past eight years under Bush. That is, not at all. I sure felt left out when clusters of jaunty, overjoyed students screamed into the night, enthusiastically hugging each other in warm embrace, convinced their problems would evaporate with the passing old-world Bush years and that Barack Obama would fulfill every dream they envisioned in their unencumbered Election Night ecstasy. [ Learn More ]
Nov 13, 2008, 18:50

Opinion
The inevitability of a nuclear Iran
Much of the focus at this year's National Council on US-Arab Relations (NCUSAR), held in the last week of October, was not on United States' relations with an Arab country, but rather their ethnic Persian neighbor to the east: Iran. The question and answer session of a panel on Iraq and Iran was a microcosm of the chatter which has swirled around Washington all year about the ebbing and flowing likelihood of a US bomb strike against Iran's alleged nuclear sites. [ Learn More ]
Nov 12, 2008, 20:08

Opinion
For Obama: How to Manage Russia, Iran?
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Wednesday suggested new diplomatic opportunities will come as President-elect Obama moves into the White House. In a meeting with reporters, Kouchner indirectly called for trying to understand Moscow's mentality regarding western actions, including NATO expansion, in areas under Soviet domination just 20 years ago. "Russia believes that we are besieging them," he said, also noting Russian public opinion. [ Learn More ]
Nov 12, 2008, 19:54

Opinion
Obama's Iran opportunity
Of all the congratulations that President-elect Barack Obama basked in last week, the most unexpected came from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He sent the president-elect a letter, reminding Obama that "opportunities that are bestowed upon humans are short lived," and that he hoped Obama would make the most of his. The congratulatory note—a first since the 1979 Iranian revolution—set politicians abuzz in Tehran and diplomats here scrambling to decode any hidden meanings. [ Learn More ]
Nov 12, 2008, 19:52

Opinion
Could Obama victory lead to Iran talks?
Barack Obama's election and the chance of a leadership change in Iran offer the best hope in decades for direct talks between bitter enemies Iran and America. But the differences run so deep — from Iran's nuclear program to Israel's future — that the prospect of a breakthrough or grand bargain is dim, at best. Even those who support talks say they can foresee nothing broader than small steps to lessen tensions. Critics see certain failure.
Nov 12, 2008, 19:48

Opinion
Obama and Ahmadinejad in Political Dance
One such voice belongs to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, who sent an unprecedented public letter of congratulations to Obama last week -- the first ever from a leader of the Islamic Republic to an American president-elect. Obama said he would consider the letter carefully, avoiding any "knee-jerk response." If change has been Obama's call, the letter was Iran's agreeable response. [ Learn More ]
Nov 11, 2008, 18:00

Opinion
Is Iran's Ahmadinejad losing chance for vote win?
Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's failure to share out Iran's oil income more fairly has raised doubts over his chance of securing a second-term in next year's election. Instead of ushering in the era of "economic prosperity" he promised in 2005, Ahmadinejad presides over an Iran which may struggle to balance its books despite enjoying windfall oil earnings for much of his first term, analysts say.
Nov 11, 2008, 17:53

Opinion
Iran extends an early friendly hand
"I would like to offer my congratulations on your election by the majority of the American electorate ... The people across the world expect that policies and practices based on justice and respect for the rights of peoples and nations, coupled with friendship and non-interference in the affairs of others replace policies founded on war, occupation, coercion, deception, intimidation of nations, discriminatory bilateral and global relations; policies and practices that have enraged all nations and many governments against the US administration and tainted the image of American people," Ahmadinejad's letter to Obama reads in part. [ Learn More ]
Nov 7, 2008, 20:19

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