海角大神

The United States and Iran are throwing more rhetorical brickbats, blaming each other at the start of the Persian New Year for failure to embrace engagement initiatives, and reviving language drawn from decades of mutual demonization.

Washington is angry about Iran's rebuff of a nuclear deal offered last fall, its anti-Israel rhetoric, and constant Iranian accusations that the West was behind weeks of bloody unrest last summer.

Tehran is incensed by criticism of that lethal crackdown on opposition supporters since the country's contested election last June, and says the United States persists in working to undermine the regime.

鈥淓lements in Iran鈥檚 government have become a menace, both to their own people and in the region,鈥� US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday.
Iran鈥檚 leaders must know there are 鈥渞eal consequences鈥� for not resolving questions about its nuclear program, and that it was 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� for Iran to have nuclear weapon, Mrs. Clinton said in a speech to AIPAC, an influential pro-Israel lobby group. 鈥淥ur aim is not incremental sanctions, but sanctions that will bite.鈥�

The reinforced rhetoric echoed the vituperation coming from Tehran, where leaders over the weekend rejected a Nowruz (New Year) statement from President Barack Obama 鈥� who took office last year vowing to try to break 30 years of mutual hostility and seek dialogue with the Islamic Republic. Mr. Obama said his 鈥渙ffer of comprehensive diplomatic contacts and dialogue [still] stands.鈥�

Iran鈥檚 supreme religious leader Ayatollah Seyeed Ali Khamenei responded in a Sunday speech. 鈥淭he new US administration," he stated, "said they are willing to normalize relations. But unfortunately in practice they did the opposite. We said that if they are extending a metal hand inside a velvet glove, we won鈥檛 accept.鈥�

Too much to lose

鈥淭he reality today is that both sides don鈥檛 think they have much to lose by denouncing the other side,鈥� says Ray Takeyh, an Iran specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. 鈥淸But] this reality is unsustainable. At some point, somebody鈥檚 situation will change, whether it鈥檚 theirs or ours.鈥�

鈥淥n the US side, what happens if the sanctions regime doesn鈥檛 achieve Iranian compromises?鈥� asks Mr. Takeyh, author of Guardians of the Revolution: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs. 鈥淎nd on the Iranian side, what happens if sanctions and other factors affect their economic situation鈥攈ow would they respond?鈥�

Khamenei said the White House had been deceptive in its previous efforts. 鈥淵ou cannot speak about peace and friendship while plotting to hit Iran,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will examine the issue with sharp vision to determine if it really is a friendship hand and a friendly intention or hostile one in a deceptive framework.鈥�

In Iran, the past year has seen a diplomatic shift of priorities at home from the nuclear issue to the suppression of opposition protests that left scores dead and thousands arrested, as hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to reject what they believed to be the fraudulent re-election victory of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In a separate Nowruz message broadcast on Saturday, Ayatollah Khamenei said the past year 鈥渨as the scene of glory, victory and historical presence鈥� of Iranians, who in the election 鈥渟howed their national will.鈥�

鈥淓nemies of Iran and the Islamic system focused to defeat the Revolution from inside but the nation foiled the plot through their unique awareness, insight and resistance,鈥� Khamenei said, according to a translation on his website.

Death to America 鈥� and Obama

On Sunday, Khamenei鈥檚 speech was punctuated by chants of 鈥淒eath to America鈥� and 鈥淒eath to Obama鈥� from the audience.

鈥淓ight months after the elections [the Americans] took the worst possible stance. The US president called those rioters and saboteurs 鈥榗ivil rights activists,鈥欌�� Ayatollah Khamenei said in the nationally televised speech in the shrine city of Mashhad. 鈥淪ometimes the US government appears as a wolf or a fox and looks violent and arrogant, and sometimes they look different.鈥�

In Obama鈥檚 message, he noted that a year ago he offered a 鈥渘ew chapter of engagement on the basis of mutual interests and mutual respect,鈥� though since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, 鈥淚ran鈥檚 leaders have sought their own legitimacy through hostility to America.鈥�

鈥淲e know what you鈥檙e against; now tell us what you鈥檙e for,鈥� Obama said in his New Year message on Saturday. 鈥淔or reasons known only to them, the leaders of Iran have shown themselves unable to answer that question. You have refused good faith proposals [and leaders have] turned their backs鈥� on a path toward dialogue.

鈥淔aced with an extended hand, Iran鈥檚 leaders have shown only a clenched fist,鈥� Obama said. 鈥淟ast June, the world watched with admiration, as Iranians sought to exercise their universal right to be heard. But tragically, the aspirations of the Iranian people were also met with a clenched fist.鈥�

The US president reaffirmed 鈥渙ur commitment to a more hopeful future for the Iranian people,鈥� and said Washington stands 鈥渇or those rights that should be universal to all human beings.鈥�

鈥淭he larger obstacle to progress on this issue is the Supreme Leader鈥檚 perception 鈥� and I think it was a perception cemented after the June 12 election 鈥� that the US has an immutable, ideological hostility to his regime, and is determined to undermine his regime,鈥� says Takeyh. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 a difficult obstacle to overcome.鈥�

Highlighting anti-Americanism

Takeyh said that on the video section of Khamenei鈥檚 website, the 19-minute anti-American portion could be watched separate from the entire 67-minute speech, to highlight its message.

The response by Mr. Ahmadinejad was similar to the stance taken during the presidency of George W. Bush, when Iran was branded part of an 鈥渁xis of evil鈥� and US-engineered regime change was discussed as a policy option.

鈥淭he Iranian nation will guard its national security with full strength and will decisively cut any unclean hand from any part of the globe which tries to harm it,鈥� Ahmadinejad said on Saturday.

He trumpeted his election victory as a 鈥渢rue鈥� model of democracy that should be emulated worldwide.

鈥淭he decisive vote by the nation for the president clearly outlined what path the government should take,鈥� said Ahmadinejad. 鈥淭he enemy tried to hide the success of the Iranian people with dust, but in reality they were rubbing their own faces with dust鈥� They should know that the Iranian nation is even more determined than last year to pursue its high goals.鈥�

The Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami in his latest sermon spoke of 鈥渢his lying US president,鈥� when he noted from his Tehran pulpit that Palestinians in Gaza had so far endured 1,000 days of an Israeli blockade. In recent weeks, Parliament speaker Ali Larijani spoke of American 鈥渕urderers.鈥�

鈥淲e took this course with the understanding that seeking engagement would strengthen our hand if Iran rejected our initiative,鈥� Clinton said. 鈥淎nd over the last year, Iran鈥檚 leaders have been stripped of their usual excuses. The world has seen that it is Iran, not the United States, responsible for the impasse.鈥�