 Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran Feb. 1, 1979, after 14 years exile |
The Iranian government has rejected any suggestion by President Obama that U.S. relations with Iran could improve, unless Washington is willing to make major policy changes, including a reduced military presence in the Middle East and the end of support for Israel.
Speaking at a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution – which began with the 1979 return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran from France – government spokesman Gholam Hossein Ehlam denied reports of secret meetings between unofficial representatives of the Obama administration and the Iranian government coordinated by the Pugwash Group, as reported by WND yesterday.
“There have been no official negotiations with the Americans,” Ehlam told the Guardian newspaper of London.
Instead of responding positively to Obama’s suggestion in his televised interview with the al-Arabiya Arabic television news service that Iran “unclench its fist,” Tehran seems to be hardening its negotiation position.
Over the weekend, Iran also denied that its foreign minister, Manuchehr Mottaki, would meet U.S. officials at a conference in Munich that Vice President Joe Biden plans to attend.
During a rally held Sunday at Khomeini’s mausoleum in southern Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaimed, “The revolution is lively and alive after 30 years,” according to an AFP report.
“We are still at the beginning of the path and greater changes are needed,” Ahmadinejad said. “This thunderous revolution will continue until justice is implemented. Although the Islamic revolution happened in Iran, it is not limited to Iran.”
Crowds at Khomeini’s mausoleum Saturday chanted “Death to America! Death to Israel!” at the beginning of a 10-day celebration of the 1979 Islamic revolution that began with Khomeini’s return to Iran and his overthrow of the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
The Iranian news agency, IRNA, published today an interview with Tehran University Professor Abu Mohammad Asgarkhani, who claimed Obama’s policies toward Iran were no different than the Bush administration’s.
Iran watchers interpret IRNA publishing the Asgarkhani interview as a sign the Ahmadinejad administration is not moving toward accommodation with the U.S., despite Obama’s recent overtures suggesting a softening in U.S. policy.
Since Obama took office Jan. 20, Ahmadinejad has repeatedly said accommodation with the U.S. is dependent not upon Obama’s willingness to engage in direct talks with Iran, but upon fundamental changes in U.S. policy. The changes include a willingness to withdraw the U.S. military from Iraq and Afghanistan and drop support for Israel.
Let’s curb the kangaroo court of anonymous sources
Tim Graham