Barack Obama's speech on the anniversary of the Iranian hostage crisis.
We do not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs. We have condemned terrorist attacks against Iran. ... We have made clear that if Iran lives up to the obligations that every nation has, it will have a path to a more prosperous and productive relationship with the international community."Obligations every nation has" is a very lawyerly formulation that is misleading even if true. Iran has an obligation to submit to the rules of the Security Council, but the UNSC action was not applied in a non-discriminatory fashion. Other nations, including nations that are known to have had nuclear weapons programs have not been required by the UNSC to cease enrichment, to subject their enrichment programs to US discretion or to go beyond their current obligations and ratify the Additional Protocols which is a voluntary treaty modification that would impose new legal requirements on Iran.
The relationship between the US demands on Iran and Israel's unusual security situation, surrounded by more populous states that most of whose people fundamentally believe that Israel's creation and Israel's continual denial of the rights of Palestinians is an injustice, is openly acknowledged even by Americans.
Very few people in Iran will agree with Obama that Iran's nuclear issue is being treated as "every other nation" 's. The statement certainly reads as a false one in Iran.
Which is more problematic because while it is widely reported, even in the West that "there was a well funded campaign of supporting separatist elements under Bush, all we have is Obama's word that this campaign has stopped "we do not interfere in Iran's internal affairs".
If two sentences later he makes a statement that is stretching the truth, the first statement, the more important one which is harder to evaluate, loses credibility.
I have not seen evidence of a decrease in separatist activity since Obama took office, while there was a substantial increase after the US invasion of Iraq that is reasonably attributed to US policy.
The issue of US support for Iranian separatist organizations is one Obama will have to deal with in a more serious way than a single statement in the middle of this speech. Especially in light of the attack in Balochistan.
If not, an atmosphere of trust or even of non-confrontation will be difficult, nearly impossible to build.
