Iran’s former Vice President, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, expressed a widely accepted analysis among reformists, saying Iran’s conservatives would have preferred a McCain victory, “because they benefit more from enmity with the U.S., which allows them to rally the Islamic world behind their policies and at the same time suppress dissent at home.”
“Obama has said he’d talk to Iran,” exclaimed an excited auto spare parts dealer, Mehran Yaghoubi, 40. “He’s a peace-loving type. With him, Iran and the U.S. could finally sit down at a table and negotiate.”
