Would Obama object? How could he, given that he has already declared he will set down with the mullahs without any preconditions on this side — including, presumably, the precondition that the Iranians approach the negotiations similarly open-handed and open-hearted?
“MP: Iran Should Set Preconditions for US Talks,” from Fars News Agency, January 25 (thanks to Trav):
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran should set preconditions for talks with US because Washington has allocated a special budget against the government in Tehran, a top legislator said.
Iran should set preconditions for talks and not the United States of America because Washington has passed many legislations against Iran such as imposing sanctions, member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Heshmatollah Falahat Pisheh told the Islamic republic news agency.
He also noted that the US has allocated a special budget for operations against the Iranian government.
Referring to the new US President Barack Obama’s statement about Iran in which he repeated the preconditions of Bush’s government for talking with Iran, he said, “If the new US president seeks to pursue outdated US policies in dealing with Iran, it will not bear any results.”
Falahat Pisheh urged for the removal of US sanctions as a sign of goodwill to help pursue a policy of detente with Iran….