On March 20, Barack Obama gave his eighth and final Nowruz address, in honor of the Iranian New Year, as president. Since he became president in 2009, Obama has expanded this White House tradition, which first began with a short message from President George H.W. Bush in 1992, into an important public relations component of his diplomatic efforts with Iran. Back in 2009, Obama used his address to raise the curtain on those efforts. This year, on the day of his historic visit to Havana, Obama held up Cuba as a model for old adversaries rebuilding trust after decades of enmity.
Over the years, Obama has honed a rhetorical strategy for speaking to Iranians that includes such time-worn talking points as calling Iran a “great civilization” and praising the achievements of Iranian-Americans, as well as more ambitious flourishes, such as quoting Persian poetry, and wishing his audience Happy New Year in Persian.
Today, IranWire looks back over all of Obama’s Nowruz greetings.
2009: “Limbs to Each Other”
In his first Nowruz message, subtitled in Persian, Obama addressed “the people and leaders of Iran,” but it was clear his main message was to the leaders, as he sought to make good on campaign promises to open up diplomacy with Iran, and find a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis. He spoke of “serious differences that have grown over time,” but expressed commitment to a discussion “that addresses the full range of issues before us.” He also sought to alleviate any fears Iran’s leaders may have had about the US pursuing regime change in Iran. “The United States,” he said, “wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations.” He invoked the Shiraz poet Saadi in the spirit of common humanity and reconciliation: “The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence.”
2010: “Your Right to Peaceful Nuclear Energy”
The following year, Obama began his message with much the same tone but challenged Iran’s leaders forcefully over the ongoing dispute about Iran’s nuclear program. While he acknowledged Iran’s “right to peaceful nuclear energy,” he also lamented that its leaders had rejected “good faith proposals” from the international community on the nuclear question. At some risk to diplomacy, he expressed sympathy with the “Green Movement” protests that had followed Iran’s presidential elections in 2009, and deplored the state’s subsequent crackdown, noting the beating of protesters, the abuse of political prisoners, and the shooting dead of protestor Neda Agha Soltan. His criticism, he argued, amounted to no more than a defense of universal human rights. He said that his offer of “comprehensive diplomatic dialogue” stood, but that Iran, but that the Iranian government had “chosen to isolate itself.”
2011: “I am with You”
Speaking in the year of the “Arab Spring,” just a month after Egyptians had deposed President Hosni Mubarak, Obama spoke of “a season of promise across the Middle East and North Africa.” Regional upheavals, he suggested, represented popular insistence for government accountability. In an apparent answer to critics who had accused him of offering too little moral support to Iran’s post-election protesters in 2009, he explicitly linked the Arab Spring to the Green Movement. “The same forces of hope that swept across Tahrir Square,” he said, “were seen in Azadi Square in June of 2009.” He named specific Iranians who had fallen victim to “a campaign of intimidation and abuse,” including lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, filmmaker Jafar Panahi, and journalist Abdolreza Tajik. Obama said that Iran’s future belonged to a generation born after 1979, and told Iran’s youth, “I am with you,” – a play on his own name, since “oo ba ma'st” is “he’s with us” in Persian. He closed by quoting a patriotic poem by Simin Behbehani, a poet who had been banned from leaving Iran.
2012: “Electronic Curtain”
By spring 2012, Iran had decisively crushed the Green Movement by placing its leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest. The country descended into a securitized atmosphere marked by paranoia, repression, and ever-more-severe censorship. Obama returned to his original theme of common humanity. He noted that an Iranian film, A Separation, had won an Academy Award and that US sailors had rescued Iranian sailors from pirates. He also launched a new emphasis on Internet and communications freedom. Paraphrasing Winston Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri in 1946, Obama said, “An electronic curtain has fallen around Iran.” He also introduced America’s “virtual embassy” for Tehran. He promised to make it easier for Iranians to acquire US communications technology despite sanctions.
2013: “A New Relationship”
This year’s message was all about nuclear negotiations. With another Iranian presidential election on the horizon, Obama spoke of the prospect of “a new relationship,” and reiterated his desire for a peaceful, diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis (with the unstated implication being that a military option remained, as he had said elsewhere, “on the table”). He also implicitly invoked his State Department’s diplomatic successes elsewhere, citing the international community’s enthusiasm for diplomacy on the nuclear question. He held out a choice between greater trade and mutually beneficial ties, and further isolation, but added that Iran’s isolation was bad for the world. He quoted the poet Hafez: “Plant the tree of friendship that bears the fruit of fulfillment. Uproot the sapling of enmity that bears endless suffering.”
2014: “We’ve Made Progress”
In 2014, Obama embraced the election of the man he respectfully called “Dr. Hassan Rouhani.” It was the first time he had named an Iranian official in his Nowruz address. He spoke of his historic phone conversation with Rouhani the previous September, which was the first such communication between American and Iranian leaders since 1979. He highlighted progress on the nuclear front, citing the interim “Joint Plan of Action” agreement Iran and the US had reached in Geneva the previous November. He raised hopes that “intensive negotiations” would produce an agreement.
2015: “A Historic Opportunity”
This year, Obama looked happy and began by telling his audience about the White House’s haft sin, a ceremonial Nowruz display. He said the past year had presented “the best opportunity in decades to pursue a different future between our countries.” He championed an “initial understanding” over Iran’s nuclear program, and a degree of sanctions relief the US had provided Iran in response. He acknowledged opposition to the deal both within Iran and the US, but said, “We have to speak up for the future we seek.” He presented once again a choice between isolation and hardship, and a future of shared opportunity, trade, foreign investment and technological partnership. “This moment,” he said, “will not come again soon.” He quoted Hafez: “It is early spring. Try to be joyful in your heart, for many a flower will bloom while you will be in clay.”
2016: “A Chance for a Different Future"
This was the Nowruz speech everyone was waiting for: the one in which Obama would bank his achievements, and hint at Iran’s role in his presidential legacy. As expected, he spoke of “the historic deal on Iran’s nuclear program,” and Iran’s meeting of its commitments. He cautioned that it might take time for Iranians to feel the effects of sanctions relief in their daily lives, but that “the benefits are undeniable.” As Iran began to reintegrate into the world’s economy, he said, “I know that Americans are eager to buy more of your beautiful Persian carpets, pistachios, caviar, and saffron,” and to travel to Iran. It was hard, however, to miss his disappointment over the lack of progress on other fronts. While his message was fortuitously timed to coincide with his visit to Cuba, there was a sense of melancholy — unstated of course — that it couldn’t have been Tehran.
Related Articles:
Khamenei Attacks Rouhani's Policies in New Year Speech
Iran's Instagram Trolls Target Obama
Interested in writing for IranWire?
Share your stories.
comments