Iran Gets Pushy, Calls for End of U.S. Support for Israel

Perhaps emboldened by the words of President Barack Obama, who promises to bring a new era to relations between the U.S. and Middle East Muslims, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the U.S. to withdraw troops from around the world and to end support for Israel. Said Ahmadinejad, "Change means giving up support for the rootless, uncivilized, fabricated, murdering Zionists and letting the Palestinian nation decide its own destiny. Change means putting an end to U.S. military presence in the world."

Obama, whose message of change seems to have been grasped and twisted by Ahmadinejad, has clearly reached out verbally to Muslims in the Middle East, nothing that "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Continuing, Ahmadinejad said, "When they say ‘we want to bring changes’, change may happen two ways: First is profound, fundamental and effective change…the second is a change of tactics. We will wait patiently, listen to their words carefully, scrutinize their actions under a magnifier and if change happens truly and fundamentally, we will welcome that. The change will be to apologize to the Iranian nation and try to compensate for their dark records and the crimes they have committed against the Iranian nation."

Though the rhetoric is likely to simply be dismissed by the Obama administration, his move to engage Iran does signal a shift in U.S. thinking. The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Iran after hardline students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Obama, however, has noted that "It is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress."