Former US diplomat hopeful for change after Iran election
Updated: Thursday, June 11, 2009
16:50GMT—12:50PM/EST
Washington, 11 June (WashingtonTV)—Nicholas Burns, a former US diplomat and the point person on Iran under former President George W. Bush, on Thursday voiced cautious optimism that tomorrow’s election in Iran may bring about change.
Burns, a former undersecretary of state for political affairs, was speaking at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based research institution.
While he would not predict the outcome of tomorrow’s vote, Burns said that the mass public rallies and heated televised debates between the four candidates indicate that there is a “reform movement” in Iran.
“It is youth-driven. It’s remarkable for its energy and I don’t know what’s going to happen in the election tomorrow, but we should be open to the possibility of some change,” said the veteran diplomat.
Burns, who is a professor in international politics and diplomacy at Harvard University, said that he was interested by the “flurry” of op-ed articles in the past week, mainly from the right, saying that “diplomacy is weak” and “can’t succeed” with Iran.
“I would say that President [Barack] Obama is countering that. I think he effectively has put Ahmadinejad on [the] defensive prior to this election because of our ability now to open up the vista for the possibility of negotiations,” he told the audience.
Obama has said that he is willing to hold direct talks with Iran “without preconditions” on a range of issues, including the latter’s nuclear program.
However, the president has asserted that Tehran should not have nuclear weapons.
Burns said that Obama “has positioned us to take advantage of the possibility that we might see a glimmer of change in the wake of these Iranian elections.”
Source: WashingtonTV correspondent
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