edited by Lauren Abuouf
The Obama-Nijad Files
It's still a war of words between American President-Elect Barack Obama and Iranian officials. Shortly after Obama revealed that he will pursue a "carrot-and-stick" policy with Iran to force it to stop its uranium enrichment program, Shiite clergy member Ahmed Khatami replied, telling Obama that he is immature and mistaken. This moves us to tackle three common Obama-Nijad issues--the foundation for their disputes: the Iranian nuclear row, Iran’s support of the Lebanese Hezbollah military party and its contacts with the Hamas resistance group.
As for the first issue, which is the most important as well as the most dangerous, Obama’s administration sees that Iran is continuing to develop its nuclear program and yet still threatens to impose more economic sanctions. This is why the Americans consider establishing a regional nuclear umbrella to “deter” Iran by providing U.S. allies in the region-–certainly Israel-–with preventive capabilities, also taking into account Israel’s fears of any Iranian-American talks regarding this issue. In this regard, David Welch, the American Assistant Secretary of State, believes that the Iranian danger is imminent and the situation requires a more effective strategy to change Tehran’s behavior.
And on the Iraqi side is Ali Al Dabagh, the spokesman of the Iraqi government, calling upon President Obama to hold serious talks with Iran to solve pending problems that will affect the region.
Second, the American administration views the Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist group rather than a resistance movement because of hostilities between the group and Israel; thus Obama deems Iran’s support for Hezbollah a danger that should be halted.
The third issue, related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the relationship between Iran and Hamas, has a lot in common with the second issue. Hamas, the main resistance group against Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories, is a terrorist group that aims at destroying Israel that should be under the U.S.'s careful watch.
These issues shall be formally handled after the new American administration takes office on January 20th.
Despite the comparisons drawn between US attitudes toward Iraq and Iran, the catastrophes Bush brought about in Iraq will be a lesson to Obama, considering that Iran would be capable of responding to a possible attack.
The question remains: How will Obama handle these affairs? Will he choose diplomacy or does he have something else in mind?
As for the first issue, which is the most important as well as the most dangerous, Obama’s administration sees that Iran is continuing to develop its nuclear program and yet still threatens to impose more economic sanctions. This is why the Americans consider establishing a regional nuclear umbrella to “deter” Iran by providing U.S. allies in the region-–certainly Israel-–with preventive capabilities, also taking into account Israel’s fears of any Iranian-American talks regarding this issue. In this regard, David Welch, the American Assistant Secretary of State, believes that the Iranian danger is imminent and the situation requires a more effective strategy to change Tehran’s behavior.
And on the Iraqi side is Ali Al Dabagh, the spokesman of the Iraqi government, calling upon President Obama to hold serious talks with Iran to solve pending problems that will affect the region.
Second, the American administration views the Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist group rather than a resistance movement because of hostilities between the group and Israel; thus Obama deems Iran’s support for Hezbollah a danger that should be halted.
The third issue, related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the relationship between Iran and Hamas, has a lot in common with the second issue. Hamas, the main resistance group against Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories, is a terrorist group that aims at destroying Israel that should be under the U.S.'s careful watch.
These issues shall be formally handled after the new American administration takes office on January 20th.
Despite the comparisons drawn between US attitudes toward Iraq and Iran, the catastrophes Bush brought about in Iraq will be a lesson to Obama, considering that Iran would be capable of responding to a possible attack.
The question remains: How will Obama handle these affairs? Will he choose diplomacy or does he have something else in mind?
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