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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Tehran mayor welcomes Obama's call for talks |
| 2008-10-18 |
| The mayor of Tehran, a possible contender for the Iranian presidency, said on Friday his country would welcome talks with the United States as supported by White House contender Barack Obama. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a harsh critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, expressed hope that Obama would make good on calls to hold dialogue with Iran should the Democrat win the November 4 election. "Senator Obama said in his ... campaign that he would like to have such a relationship," Qalibaf said, adding that any talks must be to the mutual benefit of the two countries and "without any sense of pressure." "I think the world community, the Iranian society and the US society would benefit" from such talks, he said during a visit to Tokyo at the invitation of the Japanese government. Obama has said Washington must engage in "tough, direct diplomacy" with Iran, and that as president he would have the right "to meet with anybody at a time and place of my choosing if I think it's going to keep America safe." His approach contrasts with the current hard-line US policies. President George W. Bush famously named Iran as a part of an "axis of evil." An escalating nuclear standoff between Iran and the West and inflammatory rhetoric from Ahmadinejad has only deepened the hostility. Qalibaf, seen as a contender for next year's presidential election, pressed the US to withdraw troops from Iraq and said "superpowers" must acknowledge an Iranian role in bringing stability to the Middle East. Echoing other Iranian leaders, Qalibaf called for a country encompassing both Israel and the Palestinian territories to replace the Jewish state. "Muslims, Christians, and Jews ... must be allowed to return to their own land and, through a democratic and free election, choose the type of government they would like to have," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |