Barack Obama effect could encourage change in Iran, says Tony Blair
Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, said a “spirit of possibility” created by the election of President Barack Obama has encouraged social change in Middle Eastern countries including Iran.
By Alastair Jamieson
Published: 11:22AM BST 25 Jun 2009
In an interview with US television network CBS, Mr Blair said the change in Washington had been mirrored by a similar “sense of change” in the troubled region, citing the recent defeat of Hizbollah in Lebanese polls and the election of women to the Kuwaiti parliament.
He said the dramatic death of 27-year-old Tehran protester Neda Agha-Soltan, captured on video and viewed by millions online around the world, had become "the face" of the "younger generation of people in these countries" who believe "there is the chance now of a new partnership with the west".
He also spoke of the difficulties for western leaders in responding to protests in Iran, comparing the situation to Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe. In an apparent defence of President Obama’s handling of the Tehran crisis, Mr Blair said opposition demonstrators would “completely understand that he's trying to manage a situation in which he obviously is… supportive of them, but doesn't want to end up in a situation where his attack on the regime is then used as a reason... to act against them.”
Asked by CBS News host Katie Couric whether President Obama’s election had influenced the unrest in Iran, Mr Blair said it was hard for Americans to “see it from the outside perspective what... a revolutionary change
was.”
“Before the American election, you know, large numbers of leaders in that region said to me, "There's no way they'll elect Obama. It just won't happen. America won't do that.’ And then it does. And then they say, ‘Hmm, that's interesting.’
“And, for the people… particularly his speech in Cairo, which I think... has… had a really, really significant impact. Then you see the election in Lebanon... with Hizbollah pushed back. You see, in Kuwait, for example, an election recently, the first women members of parliament being elected. You know, right round the region there is a sense of– of change. Tough challenges and tough decisions abound. But, for the moment, that sense of hope, that spirit of possibility is there.”
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VIDEO at LINK - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5633903/Barack-Obama-effect-could-encourage-change-in-Iran-says-Tony-Blair.html
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