Obama Enlists Iranian Public’s Support in Nowruz Address

President Obama offered his best wishes to the people of Iran on Thursday in a video message celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Obama’s message was delivered in the context of ongoing negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group countries over its nuclear program. The talks seek to establish limits on Iranian nuclear power, as negotiators from the U.S, France, Germany, the U.K., China, and Russia hope to confine the Iranian nuclear program to civilian use in exchange for lifting the economic sanctions currently imposed on Iran. Both sides of the negotiations have established late March as the deadline to finalize the terms of agreement, with a final deal expected by June 30th.

"The days and weeks ahead will be critical. Our negotiations have made progress, but gaps remain. And there are people, in both our countries and beyond, who oppose a diplomatic resolution," said President Obama, adding, “[this year], we have the best opportunity in decades to pursue a different future between our countries.”

Obama’s Nowruz outreach comes several days after 47 Republican senators signed an open letter to the leaders of Iran declaring that the authority of the President will only last for the duration of his term, suggesting that a Republican victory in 2016 would end a potential deal with Iran on its nuclear program.

The President, along with Secretary of State John Kerry, has made reaching an agreement with Iran a priority for the last years of his administration. He has encountered significant opposition from members of the Republican Party in Congress, including Senator Tom Cotton, the initial author of the letter, and most of the Republican congressional leadership. They, and several potential 2016 presidential candidates, hold a very negative view of the negotiations with one the United States’ historical foes.

“The only thing unprecedented is an American president negotiating a nuclear deal with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism without submitting it to Congress,” Cotton said following the publication of the letter.

In addition to joining in the festivities of Nowruz, President Obama sought to underline the consequences that a nuclear agreement would have on the Iranian population, citing an end to the economic hardship caused by economic sanctions.

“If Iran’s leaders can agree to a reasonable deal, it can lead to a better path—the path of greater opportunities for the Iranian people. More trade and ties with the world. More foreign investment and jobs, including for young Iranians.”

The President also took the opportunity to demand the release of the three American citizens currently detained in Iran and to ask for assistance in locating missing investigator Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007.

Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Zarif, responded to Obama’s message through Twitter, saying: “Iranians have already made their choice: Engage with dignity. It’s high time for the U.S. and its allies to choose: pressure or agreement.”

Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, also responded to the message in his Nowruz address. Khamenei declared to a crowd of followers: “I watched Obama’s Nowruz video message to the people of Iran. All of what he says in this message is you must submit to what we dictate to you in the Nuclear Negotiations in order to create employment, investment and economic activities.”

At the end of his address, Obama quoted famous Iranian Poet Hafez by saying, “Try to be joyful in your heart. For many a flower will bloom while you will be in clay.”

The Obama administration hopes that the Iran nuclear negotiations will bloom this spring. In order to do so it will need to overcome the opposition of hardliners on both sides of the negotiations. In the case of a successful agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program, Obama’s Nowruz address will likely be seen as a historic tipping point in ending decades of tension and animosity between the two countries. Such an agreement is still a long way off, but it remains possible that in his next message to the Iranian people, the President will be celebrating a historic deal.