Obama's Video Message to Iranians: 'let's Start Again'

The Iranian leadership gave a guarded welcome yesterday after Barack Obama took the unusual step of recording a video appeal to the Iranian people for a new beginning in relations between the two countries - the warmest US message in 30 years of hostilities. Obama, reaching out to the public over the heads of the Iranian leadership, sent out a carefully-worded video with Farsi subtitles to wish them a happy new year and to hope that the US and Iran could settle their differences.

Although George Bush also sent new year messages to the Iranians, the tone and method of Obama's communication marked a fundamental change in approach. It was much more effusive and warmer than his predecessor. In the key passage, Obama, who ended with a few words of Farsi, said his administration was committed to diplomacy: "This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect."

The first official Iranian response came from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's media adviser, Aliakbar Javanfeker, who said: "We welcome the interest of the American government to settle differences." But Javanfeker coupled the cautious welcome with a call for the US to admit mistakes in the past - usually a reference to CIA involvement in a 1953 Iranian coup - and for Washington to review its policy of imposing sanctions on Iran.

The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was adamant that Tehran has no intention of abandoning its controversial nuclear program, the main point of contention between the US and Iran. In a new year speech apparently recorded before Obama held out his olive branch, Khamenei hailed progress last month at Iran's first nuclear power plant, Bushehr, saying it sent a message to the whole world that "the path of Iran's nuclear progress could not be blocked".

Iran says its uranium enrichment program is for civilian nuclear purposes only. But the US, Israel and most European countries suspect it is aimed at achieving a nuclear weapons capability.

Obama's video deliberately sought to woo the Iranian public by praising the country's great civilization and cultural achievements, even quoting a verse from a famous Iranian poet about common humanity. The US calculation is that Obama's message will find a resonance with the Iranian public, MPs and media, and this will feed into the leadership debate. "For nearly three decades relations between our nations have been strained. But at this holiday we are reminded of the common humanity that binds us together," the president said.

Buried inside Obama's overture were a warning to Iran that normalisation of relations was dependent on abandoning "arms" and "terror", the latter a reference to Tehran's support for the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Further diplomatic options for the US include sending a letter directly to Khamenei, an offer of direct talks with the Iranian leadership, and the reopening of a US mission in Tehran, all combined with threats to impose stricter sanctions.

The US administration is treating the initial responses from the Iranian leadership gingerly, saying that it will take a few weeks for an agreed line to emerge from Tehran's complex power structure. Iran faces presidential elections later this year, and rapprochement with America would be a dangerous electoral card for any candidate to play. Obama's overture is only the first step in what will be a carefully choreographed approach to Iran, the details of which are still being worked out, and which the US administration anticipates could take several years. Although the diplomatic approach is paramount at present, there are many inside the administration who are skeptical about the chances of stopping Iran from securing a nuclear weapons capability through diplomacy, and are fearful of a pre-emptive Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The British and other European governments, who took a lead in pursuing diplomatic approaches to Iran during the Bush administration, yesterday enthusiastically welcomed Obama's video appeal.

"I think the message reflects exactly what the Europeans have always wanted - that an offer is being made to Iran," the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said.

Iranian analysts said easing sanctions held the key to allaying Tehran's suspicions. Some said Obama's decision last week to renew the US boycott of Iran's oil industry was at odds with the message in his video. Saeed Leylaz, a pro-reform analyst, said security guarantees would be needed to convince Khamenei that the US was serious about engagement. "I think Obama's message can be a significant step but it's not sufficient," Leylaz said.

Sadegh Kharazi, a former Iranian ambassador to Paris and the UN, said Obama's message changed US "body language" but still characterized Iran in a negative way. "There's still a negative terminology towards Iran as terrorist-supporting and as a military problem and these descriptions aren't fair."

Ebrahim Yazdi, a former Iranian foreign minister and adviser to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, said a direct message to the Iranian leadership "would bring more recognition and response".

The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, also sent a message to the Iranian people for the new year holiday, but the tone was markedly different from Obama. Peres said relations between the two countries had hit a low point, adding that problems faced by Iranians could be eased by ending its uranium enrichment program, and urging the toppling of the Iranian leadership.