This kind of reckless arrogance partly explains why political groups in Iran view America’s explicit support as a source of delegitimization. America is viewed by many Iranians as only having its own interest in mind and as being incapable of providing genuine support. With Obama, this pattern has changed. The wishes of Iranians are now suddenly center stage. On Monday, even as its election authority reportedly acknowledged that the number of ballots cast in dozens of cities exceeded the number of eligible voters in those areas, Iran accused the West of “meddling.” Rather than listening to neoconservative critics or Republican lawmakers, White House staff say that they’ve been listening to signals from the Iranians themselves. Those signals have been clear, and on most counts, the White House’s position has been on mark. “The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States,” Obama said in an interview broadcast Monday on CBS’s “The Early Show.”
