Mario Piperni dot Com

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After years of denying they were preparing to build nuclear weapons, comes this:

President Obama and leaders of Britain and France accused Iran on Friday of building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel, saying the country has hidden the covert operation from international weapons inspectors for years.

President Nicholas Sarkozy of France, appearing beside Mr. Obama, said that Iran had deadline of two months to comply with international demands or face increased sanctions.

“The level of deception by the Iranian government, and the scale of what we believe is the breach of international commitments, will shock and anger the entire international community,” Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain said, standing on the other side of Mr. Obama. “The international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand.”

American officials said that they had been tracking the covert project for years, but that Mr. Obama decided to make public the American findings after Iran discovered, in recent weeks, that Western intelligence agencies had breached the secrecy surrounding the project.

There’s no way for Iran to lie themselves out of this one, though of course they’ll try. Slowly but surely, President Obama’s foreign policy approach is paying dividends. By scrapping the missile defense plan in Eastern Europe which among other things, satisfied Russia, he’s weakened one of Iran’s few remaining allies’ ability to defend this rogue nation.

With this latest development combined with Iranians taking to the streets as part of the Green Revolution and Obama’s overture towards the Islamic world, Iran is finding itself further isolated from the world community.

The plot thickens.

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No corn dogs for Iranian diplomats on July 4.

The Obama administration has rescinded an offer for Iranian envoys to attend U.S. embassy Fourth of July parties as the violent crackdown in Tehran continues.

Hillary speaks…

“Unfortunately, circumstances have changed and participation by Iranian diplomats would not be appropriate in light of the unjust actions that the president and I have condemned,” she said in her message sent overseas. “For invitations which have been extended, posts should make clear that Iranian participation is no longer appropriate in the current circumstances. For invitations which have not been extended, no further action is needed.”

Might this be the game breaker for the Iranian government?  Will Ahmadinejad now admit he rigged the election?  I think so.

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Twitter has helped to empower a nation yearning for freedom and justice.

Iran, in censoring and condemning Western nations and media outlets from covering the post-election unrest, have been unable to reign in the power of social networking giants like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.  The end result is that citizen-journalists have had an unprecedented impact in bringing a fast moving story to the world.   Unable to gather news in a conventional form, new outlets like CNN are using Twitter ‘tweets’ and cellphone videos to tell the story of the Iranian revolution.  The media ban by the Iranian government has backfired and the world press has become the PR agent for the protesters.

And with that segue…

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Following up on my last post, here’s Joe Scarborough on Republican criticism of Obama over Iran…

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There’s hope for this party yet.  Not much, but some.

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John McCain’s selling point during the election campaign was that he had the experience on foreign policy to be able to deal with Iran and Korea. Remember that? Obama was portrayed as the naive, know-nothing young liberal who lacked the credentials to enter the ring with those who wished the country harm. The electorate was told that America’s security would be in jeopardy should they choose to elect an “empty suit” as commander in chief.

Republican’s have been all over Obama in the way he has dealt with the Iranian election crisis claiming he has not been tough enough.  Leading the pack in denouncing Obama has been McCain who has been all over the news saying stuff like…

The United States should support the Iranian people “in their struggle against an oppressive, repressive regime.  Iran should not be subjected to four more years of [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad and the radical Muslim clerics.”

The idiocy of this approach could not be clearer.  But don’t take my word for it.  Here’s what some prominent conservatives have been saying…

Pat Buchanan

“My view is that it was very, very irresponsible for John McCain to say some of the things he said so early. It was very hot-headed in my judgment. It was impulsive. Can you imagine if the crowds in the streets suddenly were told, ‘Look, the Americans are with us. They’re behind us 100 percent. Let’s try to overthrow the regime,’ and then they were cut down by these Revolutionary Guard and their thugs? I think we would bear moral responsibility for having done that, and it would be a disaster. … I think they’ve done the right thing.”

Peggy Noonan

“To insist the American president, in the first days of the rebellion, insert the American government into the drama was shortsighted and mischievous. The ayatollahs were only too eager to demonize the demonstrators as mindless lackeys of the Great Satan Cowboy Uncle Sam, or whatever they call us this week. John McCain and others went quite crazy insisting President Obama declare whose side America was on, as if the world doesn’t know whose side America is on. ‘In the cause of freedom, America cannot be neutral,’ said Rep. Mike Pence. Who says it’s neutral?” Noonan continued: “This was Aggressive Political Solipsism at work: Always exploit events to show you love freedom more than the other guy, always make someone else’s delicate drama your excuse for a thumping curtain speech.”

Republican strategist Karen Hanretty

“I’m one of the Republicans who does not agree with John McCain on this. I think the president is taking a very nuanced approach to this. I think that that is a very wise thing for him to do. Look, this is the Iranians’ revolution. America, like it or not, is not very popular in the Middle East.”

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‘We don’t want to be the foil for, you know, the opposition in Iran.’ “

McCain is not president, not now, not ever…and you can count your lucky stars and the smarts of Americans for that one.

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I just wrote a 300 word post on the Iranian protests which mysteriously got swallowed up by my laptop.  I can’t locate it anywhere.  I have to run out so I have no time to recreate it.  You’ll just have to take my word that it was brilliant.  My best stuff yet.

Quick summary: the images coming out of Iran are amazing and no one can predict the outcome.  It might become another Tienanmen Square or it might lead to the beginning of change in the Middle East the world has been waiting for.  Unlike the failed Iranian protests of 10 years ago by university students, the hundreds of thousands now marching the streets of Tehran are made up of people from all walks of life.

Chilling and dramatic stuff.

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Interesting elections they’ve just had in that bastion of democracy…

The Iranian government declared an outright election victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday morning, and riot police officers clamped down on a growing demonstration by supporters of the opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, who insisted that the election had been stolen.

“I am the absolute winner of the election by a very large margin,” Mr. Moussavi said during a news conference…adding: “It is our duty to defend people’s votes. There is no turning back.”

Hmmm…let’s see now…a national election where the outcome is questioned because of possible voting irregularities and where the loser vows to fight to the end in overturning the results?

If any of this seems familiar, try morphing the 2000 Florida results with the 2008 Minnesota Senate race.  Think Bush, Gore, Franken, Coleman…

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The outreach continues…

…the State Department sent a cable to its embassies and consulates around the world notifying them that “they may invite representatives from the government of Iran” to their Independence Day celebrations — annual receptions that typically feature hot dogs, red-white-and-blue bunting and some perfunctory remarks about the founding fathers.

Administration officials characterized the move as another in a series of American overtures to Iran. The United States has not had relations with Iran since the American Embassy in Tehran was seized by protesters in 1979; the country’s diplomats have not been formally invited to American events since then.

Nothing like a couple of made-in-the-USA hot dogs to seam those bonds of friendship…

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Opening up to Iran

You can add another ‘X’ on the policies of former president George W. Bush.   Bush’s isolation policy toward Iran is being scrapped as the new administration embarks on putting into place another of President Obama’s campaign promises.  In a followup to Obama’s video talk to the Iranian people last month on the occasion of Iran’s new year festival, the president has embarked on a new foreign policy in regards to Iran.

From the New York Times:

“The Obama administration said Wednesday that the United States for the first time would participate regularly with other global powers in negotiations with the Iranian government about its nuclear program.”

“The announcement marked a significant step toward the direct engagement with Iran that President Obama has promised. It came after the United States and five other powers — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia — invited Iran to join a new round of talks on its nuclear program. Also on Wednesday, the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, made unusually conciliatory remarks about the United States.”

Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded with guarded caution but indications are that Iran welcomes the dialogue.  “The Iranian nation welcomes a hand extended to it should it really and truly be based on honesty, justice and respect,” Ahmadinejad said.

The State department noted, “If Iran accepts, we hope this will be the occasion to seriously engage Iran on how to break the logjam of recent years. If Iran accepts that invitation, we look forward to direct engagement.”

A step in the right direction.  Naturally, there is no guarantee that the first diplomatic relations between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution will bear fruit but it does mark a positive beginning.

Stay tuned.

On the occasion of Nowruz, the Iranian new year fesitval, President Obama extended a hand of friendship and cooperation to the leaders of Iran.

No one is naive enough to believe that simple dialogue will instantly heal the divisions between the two countries. Iran is still a rogue nation with it’s continued pursuit of nuclear capability and it’s threatening stance against Israel. But having a president willing to try diplomacy in place of threatening rhetoric, is promising and follows up on Obama’s promise to chart a new course in U.S. foreign policy.

Let’s hope the president’s efforts lead us back into a time where diplomacy is neither a dirty word or a sign of weakness.

“You, too, have a choice. The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations.”

“You have that right, but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization.”

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