US president-elect uses first news conference to demand int'l effort to stop the Islamic Republic.
By JONATHAN BECK, TOVAH LAZAROFF, APobama news conference 224.88(photo credit: AP)
Two days after Iran broke precedent by congratulating Barack Obama on his victory in the US presidential elections, Teheran slammed him on Saturday for adopting the "erroneous policy" of demanding an end to its nuclear weapons program.
On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had, in the first such praise since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, formally congratulated the victorious Democratic candidate. In his letter to Obama, Ahmadinejad declared that the "nations of the world" now expected him to change US foreign policy.
The current approach, "based on warmongering, occupation, bullying, deception and humiliation, as well as discrimination and unfair relations," had prompted the "hatred of all nations and the majority of governments toward the US leaders," Ahmadinejad said.
On Friday, however, Obama used his first post-election news conference to declare that "Iran's development of a nuclear weapon" was "unacceptable" and that "we have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening."
Asked whether he had responded directly to Ahmadinejad's letter, and when he might be sending lower-level envoys to Iran to pave the way for presidential talks, Obama said, "I am aware that the letter was sent," and that he would review it and "respond appropriately... Obviously how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a kneejerk fashion."
Obama's comments represented "a pursuit of the same erroneous policy as in the past," the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, said on Saturday.
Larijani, who had last month described Obama as "more rational" than his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, added that "if the United States wants to change its standing in the region it should send good signals."
Larijani also reiterated that Iran would not budge on the nuclear program. He said Iran's leaders had decided on this course "having calculated the risks." It was "necessary for the future of Iran," he said.
Iran's state radio also said that Obama's comments would disappoint Iranian expectations of change in US foreign policy.
While publicly making no comment on Obama's remarks, Israel is presumably encouraged that he chose to address the issue robustly in his first press conference. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni made clear on Thursday, however, that Israel did not support Obama's stated readiness to engage Teheran in direct diplomacy on the issue, or at least not "at this time," since she fears it would broadcast a sense of "weakness."
At his meeting on Friday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said pointedly that Israel was "not taking any option off the table" when it came to thwarting Iran, "and we don't recommend that others take any option off the table."
Iran was continuing to "trick the world" by playing out negotiations over the monitoring of its nuclear activities, Barak said.
On Thursday, the US Treasury revoked Iran's license for "U-turn" bank transfers, which briefly enter the United States before being sent to offshore banks. The move was intended to boost financial pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program.
"This regulatory action will close the last general entry point for Iran to the US financial system," the Treasury said in a statement.
Obama insisted during his election campaign, including in his interview with The Jerusalem Post in July, that he would do "everything in my power as president to prevent Iran attaining nuclear weapons."
His readiness to address the issue immediately after his election success, however, also reflected his campaign call on Iran to enter substantive engagement with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the P5) to begin resolving the issue right away, rather than wait for a new American president to take office. He told the Post in July that Iran should be sent "a clear message" that "they shouldn't wait for the next administration, but should start engaging in the P5 process that's taking place right now."
In a phone call late on Thursday night, when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert congratulated Obama on his election win, the conversation did touch on security needs but did not deal specifically with Iran.
At his Friday press conference, Obama also said that "Iran's support of terrorist organizations, I think, is something that has to cease."
Beyond that, however, Obama was careful not to outline in detail what his foreign policy on Iran might be while President George W. Bush was still in office. The US "can only have one president at a time," he said.
"I want to be very careful that we are sending the right signals to the world as a whole that I am not the president and I won't be until January 20th."
But the lion's share of Obama's opening remarks at the press conference implied that the global economic crisis would be the first matter to be tackled after his inauguration.
Before the news conference, Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden met with their transition economic advisory board, a high-powered collection of business, academic and government leaders. They included Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose state has been hit hard by losses in the auto industry; Google CEO Eric Schmidt; and executives from Xerox Corp., Time Warner Inc., and the Hyatt hotel company. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett called in by telephone.
In his opening remarks, Obama warned that Americans faced the challenge of a lifetime and pledged he would act to help those devastated by lost jobs, disappearing savings and homes seized in foreclosure. But the man who promised change in his campaign speeches cautioned against hopes of quick solutions.
"It is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in," he said.
Standing behind Obama at his press conference were more than a dozen economic luminaries, such as Lawrence Summers, who was Treasury secretary in Bill Clinton's administration and who has been mentioned as a possible choice for the same post in the Obama administration. Obama, who was flanked by his new White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, offered no hints about who would get the job, but said cabinet positions would be filled with "deliberate haste."
The No. 1 priority, Obama said, was to get Congress to approve an economic stimulus plan that would extend jobless benefits, send food aid to the poor, and spend tens of billions of dollars on public works projects. If the plan was not approved this month in a special session of Congress, Obama said "it will be the first thing I get done as president of the United States."
Asked about the Bush administration's handling of the economy, Obama said, "The critical tone that has to be struck by all of us right now is the American people need help, the economy needs help, and now is a good time to set politics aside for a while and think practically what would actually work to help."
He said the middle class would be the group most in need of help, and claimed 95 percent of Americans would benefit from his economic agenda.
Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, were "graciously" invited by Bush and his wife, Laura, to visit the White House. They will be meeting the Bushes there on Monday.
Asked about consulting with former US presidents, Obama said he had met with all former presidents "who are living," including Republican George H.W. Bush, father of the current president and the man who presided over Operation Desert Storm in Iraq in the early 1990s.
Obama said he also read the biographies of former presidents and cited Abraham Lincoln as "an extraordinary inspiration."
Finally, a reporter asked what breed of dog the Obamas would bring to the White House, a question that seems to be high on the mind of Americans, according to Obama. He said the family was looking for one that would not trigger his daughter Malia's allergies. "Our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me," he said.
Obama planned to stay home in Chicago through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so he and his staff can rest after the grueling campaign.
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