Friday, July 17, 2009

Iran spurns Obama's effort to engage the Mullahcracy

“The U.S. administration is discovering now that that the attitude of Iranian leaders is harder to sway than they thought on the campaign trail,”

From Bloomberg

July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian leaders are turning inward and rejecting engagement with the West as they blame outsiders for street protests, even as President Barack Obama’s administration pushes for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.

The leadership has denounced foreign governments as “enemies” for encouraging demonstrations over last month’s presidential election and plans to put a British Embassy employee on trial for inciting the protests, which were violently suppressed. A French student also has been detained on spy charges.[...]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded yesterday that direct talks remain “the best vehicle” for presenting Iranian leaders with a choice of limiting their nuclear ambitions or continuing “down a path to further isolation.”

In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Clinton said neither she nor Obama “have any illusions that dialogue with the Islamic Republic will guarantee success of any kind.” She added that “the prospects have certainly shifted in the weeks following the election,” an assessment endorsed by specialists on the region.

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