President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Welcomes Obama

World Welcomed Letter to Obama

Hassan Qashqavi (Minestry Spokesman)

The world has welcomed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s congratulatory message to US President-elect Barack Obama, the Foreign Ministry said.
“Ahmadinejad’s decision to write to Obama was, among other things, an indication of the high potential of Iranian diplomacy. It had the greatest impact inside the United States,“ Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi, told students at Tehran University on Tuesday, Presstv reported.
In an unprecedented move, the president congratulated Obama on his victory in the Nov. 4 presidential election. He was the first Iranian president after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to congratulate an American leader. Iran and the US have had no diplomatic ties for almost three decades. Washington cut off relations in 1980 after revolutionary students seized the US Embassy in Tehran to protest years of US spying and subterfuge under diplomatic cover.
Soon after overtaking the mission the students set out on a torturous program and put together millions of pieces of shredded confidential documents at the embassy that without any doubt proved the illegal activities of the ’diplomats’. Over the years the students published tens of books that showed in graphic detail how the embassy had been effectively turned into a den of spies to the detriment of Iran and its people. Ever since, the former embassy has been known as the “US espionage den.“
Successive US administrations have been carrying the grudge of the so-called ’hostage crises’ until today and have done everything in their power to undermine the Islamic Republic and its interests in the region and beyond.
“The letter conveyed the message (to Obama) that if you seek real change, we are ready to help you. Obama said at his first press conference after the historic victory that he would study the letter and reply accordingly,“ Qashqavi recalled.
Iranian diplomacy is influential both at the regional and international levels, he said, and added “It is said that Iran was the biggest challenge facing the United States and its election.
This pretty much contradicts claims by certain quarters that Iran’s foreign policy is isolated.“
One key factor in assessing the success of any foreign policy is to what extent it can serve national interest and security, he told the students at the prestigious university.
Qashqavi rejected criticism leveled by the domestic and foreign press about the performance of Iran’s diplomatic corps.
“Sections of media seek to portray Iran’s diplomacy as isolated,“ he added. A glance at the key role being played by Iran in helping resolve regional and international crises can show the role and effectiveness of the Foreign Ministry apparatus, he concluded.

---- I think a report like this shows that Iran is trying to work with the United States and really does want change. I think they were just not as fond of Bush like most people in the country and was waiting to see if America really meant that they're ready to steer away from the plans the Bush Administration set forth. Now the next step is for Obama to keep his work about successfully bringing change not only to America but to the way countries like Iran looks at America.
-Meka Brooks