Abby Wisse Schachter at the New York Post yesterday:
Iran keeps pushing for the bomb
President Obama might want to use some of his time at today's news conference to talk about issues he and the new Republican Congress can agree on. Take Iran, for example. According to news reports, the Iranians are hurting because of this summer's new sanctions but their quest for a nuclear bomb remains a top priority. Indeed, according to one European diplomat "there is no need for a meeting," to renew negotiations between Tehran and the West since there is nothing substantive to discuss. According to this source, everyone has been waiting to see if the sanctions would have an impact. "Is that going to create a new political situation?'" the diplomat told a group of reporters. "We haven't seen anything yet."
Certainly a more hawkish Congress will bolster the case for getting even tougher on Iran. As for President Obama, he likely faces a choice on Iran policy similar to his choice on domestic policy. If he wants to work with the new Congress he can embrace the Republican majority in the House as an excuse to stiffen his spine about Iran and commit seriously to stopping them from getting a nuclear weapon. The alternative is Obama trying to keep reaching out a hand to a regime that poses a significant national security threat and denies basic human rights to its people. Doesn't seem like a tough choice.
March 19, 2009:
Iranian women step on a US flag while holding cartoons depicting US President Barack Obama outside the former US embassy in Tehran on November 4, 2010 during a rally marking the31st anniversary of the capture of the embassy by Islamist students (Getty Images).
Comments