President Obama's Norooz message [2]"initiated a much needed direct conversation between Iran and the U.S," writes Dr. Farideh Farhi. Some western reports characterized Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s response as a rebuff, but in a memo for the Ploughshares-funded National Iranian American Council [3], Farhi says that the speech reflected Tehran's openness to improved relations if Washington changes its approach. Farhi argues, “Ayatollah Khamenei's speech should not be seen as a rebuff but a carefully calibrated attempt to shape the debate in Washington on how to go about talking to Iran.”
Links
[1] https://ploughshares.org/file/443
[2] http://ploughshares.org/news-analysis/news/obama-makes-special-overture-iran
[3] http://www.niacouncil.org/
[4] http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1374&Itemid=29