Iranian President Ahmadinejad and his press adviser have sent a clear message to US in their response to Obama’s message. They made it clear that the relations which broke down after Islamic revolution in 1979 can be mended only if there were mutual respect in the first place. It is US which much stop in meddling in Iran’s affair and stop suspecting it for building nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism. They feel “minor changes will not end the differences”.
Interestingly Israeli President Shimon Peres too has sent a message to Iranian people on the eve of new spring festival ‘Nowruz’ praising them and suggesting that they would do better without their hard-line leadership.
It cannot be denied that US continues to play a major role in middle-east crisis. While it did nothing to stop Israel from escalating its attack on Gaza, its message to Tehran seems to be another attempt to reduce tension in the region. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is critical of unchanged US foreign policy towards Israel. Obama’s direct diplomacy initiatives have failed to impress Iranian leaders.
