Word: iranians
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...make peace, seem less almost-ready than they did a few months ago. The other Arab states in the region, especially Saudi Arabia, have refused to provide diplomatic incentives to nudge the Israelis toward peace, even though a Sunni-Israeli alliance seems the most rational way to confront the Iranian nuclear threat. Meanwhile, the Iranian leadership, stung by the embarrassment of the rigged elections and the regime's subsequent violence against its own people, seems unlikely to concede very much when formal talks begin about Iran's potential weaponization of the uranium it is now enriching. (See pictures of Obama...
...stance on Iran could just as soon get them singing "La Marseillaise." President Nicolas Sarkozy's frequent rhetorical pummeling of Tehran offers a stark contrast with the calm calls for dialogue from President Barack Obama. As the U.S. and its partners prepare for an Oct. 1 meeting with Iranian negotiators to discuss Iran's nuclear program, Sarkozy has played attack dog in chief, snarling impatiently that Tehran must be given deadlines to cooperate with international demands or else face tough consequences. Speaking at the U.N. on Thursday, Sarkozy noted there's been no change in Tehran's behavior despite dialogue...
...with Russia and the Middle East. Sarkozy, by contrast, has been a ferocious critic of Iran. Just three months after his May 2007 election, for example, Sarkozy said the specter of a "nuclear-armed Iran is for me unacceptable" and such an eventuality would present a "catastrophic alternative: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran." In his Wednesday-night TV interview, Sarkozy warned that while "Iran has the right to nuclear energy, imagining nuclear arms in the hands of the current leadership is unacceptable." (See pictures of Obama's visit to France...
...whereas Obama has largely refrained from attacking the Iranian leadership as he tries to create an atmosphere conducive to resolving the nuclear standoff, Sarkozy pulls no punches. In his Wednesday interview, the French President referred to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "monstrosity" when he asked whether "we can accept a President from a great country - which Iran is - who says Israel should be wiped from...
...Castigating Iranian leaders on the nuclear issue has previously stirred broad popular nationalist sentiment in Iran, which benefited the regime. "The risk is the stronger the language you use against Ahmadinejad abroad, the stronger [he becomes] at home," says Dominique Moisi, senior adviser at the French Institute for International Relations in Paris. "But Nicolas Sarkozy has always been very vocal and visible - which can make him vulnerable for targeting. Still, that's how Sarkozy is, so that's what...