Iran

Obama may have to walk a fine line in dealing with Iran, but individual Americans and others, and most foreign governments, do not. (In the words of one pundit, pro-American is no longer an insult in the world, thanks to the Obama election, and this is credibility we can use here.)

International presssure can make a difference, as noted by peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi, who was herself saved by international pressure after being arrested, when commenting on the Roxana Saberi case:

MULLINS: But can you explain how the government thinks in cases like this because one day Roxana gets an eight-year sentence in prison then not long after that she is released. Can you tell us what the thinking might have been there?

EBADI: After Roxana received the eight-year sentence, the international world showed a great reaction. As you know, the journalists in our borders went on a hunger strike for three days and also there was other international talk about it. So that's why Roxana was released.

MULLINS: Very often, though, we have the impression that Tehran is impervious to international pressure. How much of a difference do you think pressure by individual groups, journalist groups, even Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, how much of that had a bearing on what Tehran decided in Roxana's case??

EBADI: I can promise you that if not all the international noise were made, that Roxana would still be in prison today.

MULLINS: What is it that Tehran was afraid of then? Is it just developing an increasingly poor reputation internationally, this on top of the controversy about its nuclear program? I mean, what is it that Iran was afraid of in terms of international pressure because it certainly bucks it in other instances??

EBADI: Iran is not an isolated island in the world. Iran pays attention to the public opinions or the international opinion, and therefore when something like this happens, it wants to attract the public opinion to an extent. And let's not forget that in December of this year '09, there will be a report on human rights in Iran, and I think that Iran does not want to be convicted for the fourth time regarding violations of human rights.

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