Michele Kearney's Snuffysmith's Blog

Obama's Message to Iran Is Opening Bid in Diplomatic Drive
Helene Cooper and David E. Sanger, The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/world/middleeast/21iran.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=iran&st=cse
Nowrouz MessageThe groundbreaking message to Iran that President Obama delivered by videotape on Friday was part of a strategy intended to emphasize a positive message to Iran in the prelude to that nation's presidential election this summer, according to administration officials and European diplomats.

Among other measures being weighed are a direct communication from Mr. Obama to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, and an end to a prohibition on direct contacts between junior American diplomats and their Iranian counterparts around the world, the officials and diplomats said.

* Video: Obama's Nowrouz Message
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nowruz/

* Iran's View of Obama
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090323_obamas_new_year_greeting_and_view_iran