2030 GMT: US Walks Tightrope on Green Movement. Earlier today we posted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s declaration about the “ruthless repression” of the Iran Government. Now State Department official John Limbert, who has direct responsibility for Iran, has put out a longer, more balanced statement.
On the one hand, Limbert continues the rhetoric criticising and cautioning the regime, “I think it’s very hard for the government to decide how to react to the legitimate demands of the people. The more violence it uses, the more it will hurt itself in the end….We will never remain silent in the face of state violence and the mistreatment of people.”
On the other, Limbert is also assuring that the Obama Administration will not break off discussions with the Ahmadinejad Government: “As you know, the U.S. president is determined to renew ties with Iran despite all the problems — which we don’t underestimate — based on a new beginning.”
It is striking that, after six weeks in the high-profile US media of scepticism and even hostility towards the Iranian opposition, there appears to be another honeymoon of American sentiment for the Green Wave(s). While the protests of 13 Aban (4 November) were largely put aside by the US press, the smaller demonstrations of 16 Azar have been embraced as the valiant defiance of Government oppression.
The Christian Science Monitorsaw the resurrection of “the country’s Green Movement , [which] has found new ways of organizing and keeping its message alive”, and Los Angeles Times published a lengthy editorial, “Help Iran’s Student Protestors”:
The students, for their part, seem to be girding for a long fight, and the West should follow their lead. Western governments should offer the reform movement moral support, as President Obama did in his Nobel Peace Prize speech, promising to be a voice for the aspirations of reformers such as the “hundreds of thousands who have marched silently through the streets of Iran.” But the West also must be careful not to undermine the reformists with too close an embrace. This is a national movement, and the Iranians who are questioning the legitimacy of their own government are diligent students of their revolutionary forefathers.
Meanwhile, CNN has converted a general statement from Assistant Secretary of State John Limbert, “”We believe as we have always believed that the Iranian people deserve decent treatment from their government,” into a portrayal of Washington’s renewed backing of the opposition with the headline, “Official: U.S. Will Not Ignore Iran Protests”. Read the rest of this entry »
I had not intended to touch this story when I saw it being pushed by the polemical magazine The Weekly Standard — why devote attention to an American political squabble, even if it had an “Iran” label, when there were matters concerning Iran that have far more significance than the point-scoring and agendas in Washington? Unfortunately, one cannot let barking dogs lie.
On Friday Eli Lake of The Washington Timesparaded an alleged exposé, “Iran advocacy group said to skirt lobby rules”, of the status and activities of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). The article is lengthy, offering the appearance of background and context to frame its accusing “questions about whether the organization is using that influence to lobby for policies favorable to Iran in violation of federal law” and its warning to “prominent Washington figures” that they “could come to regret their ties to the group”.
Neither length nor the article’s placement in the news rather than opinion-editorial section should disguise, however, its intent. This is not journalism but a political attack. Read the rest of this entry »
The video below is extraordinary, showing Deputy Minister of Defense and MP Ali Khamenei in discussion with US diplomat John Limbert, one of the 52 American hostages in the 1979/81 US Embassy takeover. But the 2009 sequel to the story may be even more significant.
Although the footage had been shown on Iranian television at the time and had been posted by Liveleak in 2008, it rose to prominence when it was posted on the Supreme Leader’s website on 2 November. At that time John Limbert was a prominent ex-diplomat, soon to appear on US television talking about the 30th anniversary of the Revolutionary and Embassy crisis. Now, however, John Limbert has been appointed to the new post of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran.
So why does Ayatollah Khamenei’s camp “out” this video just before the Obama Administration offers a significant signal on US-Iranian relations? Could it be that the Supreme Leader is wanting to turn Embassy pictures of 1979, which have spurred anti-Iran hostility for a generation in the US, into images of warmth and friendship? And could it be that the US Government, far from pushing a hard line on the Iranian nuclear programme (and the post-election crisis and human rights) leading to further sanctions or a suspension of talks, is demonstrating its renewed dedication to “engagement”?
In other words, are the Leader of Iran and the Leader of the Free World now walking alongside each other, unclenched fist in unclenched fist?
2030 GMT: US Walks Tightrope on Green Movement. Earlier today we posted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s declaration about the “ruthless repression” of the Iran Government. Now State Department official John Limbert, who has direct responsibility for Iran, has put out a longer, more balanced statement.
It is striking that, after six weeks in the high-profile US media of scepticism and even hostility towards the Iranian opposition, there appears to be another honeymoon of American sentiment for the Green Wave(s). While the protests of 13 Aban (4 November) were largely put aside by the US press, the smaller demonstrations of 16 Azar have been embraced as the valiant defiance of Government oppression.
I had not intended to touch this story when I saw it being 
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