Obama announced at the CNN YouTube debate last year that he would be willing to meet with the world's worst dictators including the Iranian regime in his first year in office without preconditions.
Here's the video:
Barack Obama stuck with this precarious position throughout the campaign.It came up several times and both Senator Clinton and Senator McCain attacked him for wanting to sit down with Ahmadinejad without preconditions.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said he did not agree with Barack Obama that the President of the United States should meet with Iranian leaders without preconditions.
Today, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice restated Obama's calls for direct negotiations with Iran.
FOX News reported:
President Obama did a quick pivot Monday, shifting his focus to foreign policy by contacting a handful of major world leaders -- including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nikolas Sarkozy -- as his new U.N. ambassador restated the desire for vigorous and 'direct diplomacy' with Iran.The regime in Iran executed 22 individuals this past week.
Obama spoke with the foreign leaders ahead of a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and his Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who was leaving immediately afterward for a trip to the region. Mitchell will go to Cairo, Egypt; Jersusalem, Israel; Ramallah in the West Bank; Amman, Jordan; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He will also visit Paris and London.
Back in the U.S., U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who was confirmed last week for the post, said Monday that Iran's refusal to meet international obligations will increase pressure on Tehran to drop its nuclear ambitions and cooperate with the United States and global community.
Besides pursuing nuclear weapons, Iran has called for the destruction of Israel and support for Hamas, a terror group designated by the U.S., Israel and the European Union.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Rice's remarks are not a departure from statements made previously by Obama the candidate.
She merely restated the administration position that no forms of communication should be off the table with the Islamic regime.
'Whether you were on the campaign trail or not, clearly this was something that generated a lot of coverage over the past two years. And I think Ambassador Rice was simply restating the position that the president had,' he said.
