Saturday, November 08, 2008

Obama Talks Tough on Tehran

GLOBE AND MAIL: WASHINGTON -- Tehran's ruling mullahs must be denied nuclear weapons and their backing for Islamic terrorists must stop, president-elect Barack Obama warned yesterday, sounding every bit as tough as the man he will succeed in the Oval Office, U.S. President George W. Bush.

Looking presidential behind a massive podium, flanked by advisers and backed by a forest of flags, Mr. Obama made an important, symbolic appearance yesterday at a Chicago news conference. Although he won't be president until Jan. 20, 2009, and despite repeatedly making the point "that we only have one president at a time," the carefully orchestrated event was designed to make Mr. Obama look and sound presidential.

Mr. Obama said he hadn't yet read a letter from Iran's fiery, hard-line president, the first congratulatory missive to an American president from Iran since 1979, but seemed unmoved by the gesture.

"Iran's development of a nuclear weapon, I believe, is unacceptable," he said, echoing long-standing U.S. policy and his own often repeated campaign pledge. "We have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening," he added. "Iran's support of terrorist organizations is something that has to cease." >>> Paul Koring | November 8, 2008

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