Moussavi Spokesman Knocks Obama and Praises … Obama
I should have seen this yesterday, but Foreign Policy conducted an interview with Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the Paris-based external spokesman for Mir Hussein
Jul 31, 202030.1K Shares1M Views
“„As you may know, former President Mohammad Khatami, who is supporting Mousavi at the moment, was in favor of dialogue between the civilizations, but Ahmadinejad talks about the war of the civilizations. Is there not any difference between the two?
“„We [Iranians] are a bit unfortunate. When we had our Obama [meaning President Khatami], that was the time of President Bush in the United States. Now that [the United States] has Obama, we have our Bush here [in Iran]. In order to resolve the problems between the two countries, we should have two Obamas on the two sides. It doesn’t mean that everything depends on these two people, but this is one of the main factors.
That sounds like he’s disappointed in Obama — what with wanting “two Obamas on both sides” — and it’s not hard to understand why. It’s understandable for a domestic context that Obama emphasize that Moussavi’s election won’t immediately transform Iran into a U.S. ally. But for the international audience that Obama’s words inevitably reach, it sounds way too much like he was saying nothingwould change. How could a Moussavi aide help but be upset by that?
Here’s what Obama told John Harwood on Tuesday:
“„The difference between Ahmadinejad Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised. Either way, we were going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighborhood is pursuing nuclear weapons. so we’ve got long-term interests in having them not weaponize nuclear power stop funding organizations like Hezbollah Hamas. that would be true whoever came out on top in this election.
Also:
“„Would Mousavi be willing to accept some sort of power-sharing arrangement? Say, Ahmadinejad remains as president but Mousavi becomes prime minister once again?
“„This is not a solution, because people do not want Ahmadinejad at any level. He is so illiterate that — the millions of people in the street — he called them trash. And now, people are telling him: Youare trash.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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