Middle East Times
Online chose this article for the front page Analysis on today's issue: Tuesday,
March 24, 2009
By ANTHONY ZEITOUNI (Special to the Middle East Times)Published: March 24, 2009
Nowruz marked the first day of spring and the beginning of the year on the
Iranian calendar. This year, U.S. President Barack Obama marked the start of
Persian New Year with an unprecedented initiative to congratulate both the
Iranian people directly and the leaders of Iran by purposely using the name that
they chose for their country, the "Islamic Republic of Iran."
Did Obama succeed in sending a thoughtful message? What were the form and content of Obama's remarks? What was the reaction in Iran, especially the reaction of Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? How has the Iranian opposition received Obama's message?
How did the Iranian activists living in America receive Obama's initiative? How do American analysts evaluate this step? What is next on Obama's agenda in regards to Iran?
Obama made a smart choice when combining in his message of "a gracious Nowruz greeting with an ingenious political statement" as Hooshang Amirahmadi, the president and founder of the American Iranian Council (AIC) told me. Obama's message "unequivocally rejected the language of threat, replacing it with the language of mutually respectful diplomacy," Amirahmadi added.
Ali Nourizadeh, director of the London-based Center for Arab-Iranian Studies welcomed Obama's initiative and its "different rhetoric." With elegant words, Obama sent a courteous message to Iran and "the people of Iran are really touched" by Obama's remark added Nourizadeh, a moderate Iranian who opposes the current Islamic regime.
Farideh Farhi, an Iranian independent researcher and adjunct professor of political science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa wrote to the Boston Globe newspaper to express that she is "stunned by the tone and content" of Obama's message to Iran. In her article entitled, "And Happy Nowruz to You Too Mr. Obama" Farhi points out that the U.S. president "did not attempt to drive a wedge between the people and government of Iran," and this was "unlike his predecessor."
Iran's government recognized Obama's Nowruz message as an historic departure onto a path that broke from the previous administration's buzzwords of "axis of evil," "regime change" and "use of force."
Iran's leaders should know that a rational language is required to respond the America's overture. "Death to America" and "the big evil" should have no place in the future Iranian official or public rhetoric.
With his signature style, Obama offered a political message to the people of Iran and directly to Iran's supreme leader. The United States "wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations," and it is ready to move forward with Iran to reach this goal, once Iran recognizes that this right "comes with real responsibilities;" and that place cannot be reached through "terror or arms," but rather through Tehran's real engagement on "peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization."
Mapping peace between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran is the logical next step. Obama's administration has to transfer the Nowruz offer to a strategic deal engaging both governments in a clear and committed political process aimed at resolving a 30-year-old clash with Iran's current government, all in hopes of returning Iran to the community of nations.
Khamenei promptly responded to Obama. In his own Nowruz speech in the holy city of Mashhad, Khamenei asked Obama for a real policy change toward Iran. Khamenei stated that he has no experience with the new American government and its president. He claimed no previous opinion of Obama, either. He said, "We will look and judge. You change your behavior; we will change ours."
Farhi sees positive signs in Khamenei's speech which "actually shows how attuned he is to debates in Washington." Focusing on today "he makes no calls for U.S. apology for past actions," Farhi added.
Amirahmadi told the Middle East Times that Khamenei is "certainly not rejecting Obama's overture," but he is "demanding that the statement be followed by practical changes."
Nourizadeh is pessimistic regarding any change on Tehran's side. "They will consider Obama's overture as a sign of American weakness," said Nourizadeh, who added that "the hatred of America is the main foundation of the Islamic regime of Iran…. They cannot change their behavior even if the whole world has changed."
Juan R. I. Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan and a Middle East expert, wrote on his blog post (ICGA) that "Khamenei adopts a wait and see attitude to Obama" and he expressed "far more willingness to negotiate than the corporate media in the U.S. are reporting."
Both the United States and Iran have a laundry list of grievances against each other. We must wait to see if the Nowruz speeches exchanged by Obama and Khamenei will lead both countries to the negotiating table. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, they can break from the 30 years of the status quo of "neither war nor peace" and move toward a viable and sustained peace.
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Anthony Zeitouni (anthonygaz@gmail.com ) is a Washington-based conflict resolution researcher. His webpage is www.anthonyzeitouni.com |
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