So now Obama wants dialogue with the Iranian people, on the occasion of Nowruz. But isn’t this like a slap in the face to all those Iranians who were actively seeking a dialogue with Obama in 2009 as they were being gunned down and suppressed by the Iranian government for protesting their stolen elections? Remember Neda? Remember the green revolution? I think to this day some twitter accounts still have Tehran set as their location.
What is clear is that when it mattered in 2009, Obama was silent. And now he pretends as though he is on their side.
HAARETZ – In a video message marking the Persian new year, known as Nowruz, Obama said the U.S. seeks a dialogue with the Iranian people in order hear their views and understand their aspirations. And he sharply rebuked the Iranian government for setting up an “electronic curtain” around its people that the U.S. says blocks access to much of the outside world.
“Increasingly, the Iranian people are denied the basic freedom to access the information that they want,” Obama said. “Instead, the Iranian government jams satellite signals to shut down television and radio broadcasts. It censors the Internet to control what the Iranian people can see and say. The regime monitors computers and cell phones for the sole purpose of protecting its own power.”
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The Treasury Department issued new guidelines Tuesday allowing U.S. companies to export software and other materials to Iran that support Internet messaging services like Skype and Yahoo Messenger, Internet browsers and other online communications capabilities.
“The United States will continue to draw attention to the electronic curtain that is cutting the Iranian people off from the world,” Obama said. “And we hope that others will join us in advancing a basic freedom for the Iranian people: the freedom to connect with one another, and with their fellow human beings.”