The Letter

Posted by | January 29, 2009 11:41 | Filed under: Top Stories



White House officials are drafting a letter to Iran with an eye toward unfreezing relations.  And it’s a response to a letter of congratulations that Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent the US after Obama’s victory in November. The letter, addressed to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will be addressed to the Iranian people, and will say that Washington doesn’t want to overthrow their regime, but rather seeks changes in its behavior.  


Obama has said he was prepared to extend a hand of peace to Iran if it “unclenched its fist,” a break with the hardline policy of his predecessor George W.Bush who branded Iran as part of an “axis of evil.”

 

Iran said on Wednesday it would welcome Obama’s change of policy if it involved a withdrawal of U.S. troops from abroad and an apology for past “crimes” against Tehran.

 

For our part, we seek a curtailment of Iran’s nuclear work on uranium enrichment, something Iran is saying it won’t do.  


Aliakbar Javanfekr, a close aide to Ahmadinejad, told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran would not curtail its nuclear work, but left open the possibility of closer ties.

 

“Our fist and arms are open to those (American officials) who use wisdom to compensate for America’s mistakes in the past 30 years. America should take practical steps to respect others’ rights,” Javanfekr said.

 

“I believe that Mr. Ahmadinejad’s message to congratulate Obama should be considered as an unclenched fist and as a cooperation hand extended to him. Of course we are waiting for Obama to respond to President Ahmadinejad’s letter to prove that he believes in diplomatic respect.”

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Copyright 2009 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

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