U.S. President, Iranian President Speak For First Time Since 1979
President Obama spoke with Iranian President Rouhani today, the first such contact between the nations in 34 years.
In a late Friday press room appearance devoted mostly to the developments in Congress on the budget, President Obama made an announcement that is something of big development in international relations:
WASHINGTON — President Obama said Friday he had spoken by phone with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, the first direct contact between the leaders of Iran and United States since 1979. Mr. Obama, speaking in the White House briefing room, said the two leaders discussed Iran’s nuclear program and said he was persuaded there was a basis for an agreement.
There had been some speculation that Obama and Rouhani might have met up when the two were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, but for several reasons that never materialized. Instead, President Obama had directed Secretary of State Kerry to meet with Iran’s Foreign Minister in an effort to reopen stalled talks about Iran’s nuclear program. In his remarks, President Obama was markedly, albeit reservedly, optimistic about the prospect of being able to reach a deal over the course of the next year.
As always, we’ll have to wait to see if there are any positive developments coming out of this. There’s no question that President Rouhani has very consciously moved to distance himself from his predecessor and the anti-Western tone that Iranian public rhetoric had taken during the course of his time in office. He even reached out to Israel, in a way, when he sent a Tweet containing greetings for Rosh Hashanah. Whether this is a public relations move or a signal of something more substantive remains to be seen but, it’s worth noting that Rouhani was once the man who led the Iranian delegation for the multi-national nuclear talks that were taking place in Geneva, Switzerland over the years. Whether this means he is more willing than his predecessor to talk about some kind of a deal is unclear and, of course, it must always be noted that ultimate authority in Iran rests not with the President, but with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameni. On some level, though, it is doubtful that Rouhani would be pursuing this course of action without the approval of the religious leaders.
In any event, it’s always good to see diplomacy taking place. Whether it leads to something productive and worthwhile is something we’ll have to wait for.
And that is a good thing, no matter what the crazy people say.
Cue the Republican Party shouting “Treason!” in 3…2….1
While the children are out pretending to defund Obamacare…the adults are busy taking care of business.
Just another sign that Obama is selling us out to the Islamists. What they probably really talked about was how the US could secretly export a few Minutemen missiles to Iran with out the ever vigilant Tea Party getting a whiff of it.
Also, Israel sucks.
…It doesn’t always look like it, but it is obvious now that Obama is playing the long game vis-a-vis Syria, Russia, and Iran.
…Smart diplomacy is a feature … not a bug.
@grumpy realist:
Yup, this one pushes nearly all of their buttons. Just wait till they see:
http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/27/what-did-obama-say-to-iranian-president-hassan-rouhani/
Unfortunately, the biased media is leaving out the true story.
Yesterday, Joe Biden called President Rouhani to ask him if had Prince Albert in a can. This morning, Rouhani called Obama to ask him to keep Biden under control.
That’s all.
@JWH:
Oh that Biden! What a scamp he is!
Isn’t it about time for Ted Cruz to whip out his Neville Chamberlain analogy?
I had a close friend in high school who was Iranian and often hung out with him and his family. As best I could tell at the time, Khodahafez meant, depending on the context, “Hi mom,” “catch you later,” “how you doing,” etc. etc. etc. I just figured it was Farsi for “Aloha.”
@al-Ameda: I’d like to see Cruz front a filibuster with a little Beastie Brothers homage:
Got this dance that’s more than real
So I called the Ayatollah to see how he feels
I offered Moet, and he drank Chivas
Wherever Obama goes he brings the monkey with us
Surrender Monkeys – those funky Monkeys
Surrender Monkeys – chunky
Those funky Monkeys
@al-Ameda:
It would have to be on the days when Obama isn’t Hitler.
Hey wait, maybe Rouhani should negotiate on the days when Obama *is* Hitler. That way Rouhani gets to be Chamberlain.
@Surreal American:
Exactly. They can hold negotiations at a Portland Micro-Brew Pub (sorry it’s Oktoberfest and beer halls in Munich just are not available). Afterward, perhaps 2 weeks later Rouhani-Chamberlain and Obama-Fuhrer can walk on a beach at the Caspian Sea (Sudetenland) at sunset. Ah, I do believe I detect the scent of Anschluss in the air.
According to a report on NPR this morning, Rouhani has Khamenei’s backing.
@PD Shaw: Beastie Brothers???
And surrender monkey? Really, man?
Comedy fail…..
Other than a typical moronic article by Peggy Noonan the cons have been really quiet.
Kinda of interesting today’s webpage of the Tehran Times leads with the meeting between Kerry and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif or is there any mention of the call on the Farsnews web page. Maybe a cultural thing where a face to face meeting is more important than a phone call.
Lets see what happens next.
You people are sick .. Just look at you all of you with the tingles up your leg for Oblowmo..
You can’t see that this country is going in the dump after 5 years of this monstrosity?
All fools, every last one of you ..
@Just another libtard here:
Your Death Panel just called, please greet it.
@OzarkHillbilly: When your sainted Reagan negotiated with Iran it was to delay the release of the hostages until after the 1980 election. And where to deliver the missiles he gave them. At least Obama is doing it for a good cause.
@merl:
Your sarcasm detector needs a firmware update.
@Just another libtard here: LOL.
I’m all for dialogue, but dialogue should be predicated on clear understandings of what the end game should be. In the case of Iran, that end game should be the abandonment of nuclear weapons. If Iran wants nuclear power for peaceful uses, it has to submit to inspection and buy fuel rods and not enrich its own. Iran also needs to clean up its human rights record and halt the barbaric practice of public hangings, as well as reopen dissident news media and release political and religious prisoners. Iran also needs to halt its foreign adventures in supporting terror groups and smuggling arms in places like Syria. Dialogue is great, but it means to be meaningful, otherwise it’s like North Korea; a delaying tactic or bargaining chip. Iran has too long a history of saying one thing and doing another and Rouhani is as practiced at it as anyone. You can see it for yourself at http://www.hassan-rouhani.info. Only regime change is going to really change Iran
“regime change” being code for “invade and setup a puppet government. Because you know that worked so well in Iraq and Afghanistan…