McCain needles Obama on pledge to talk with Iran

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By Joseph Curl

Republican Sen. John McCain will not let Sen. Barack Obama off the hook when it comes to statements his likely Democratic presidential opponent made about negotiating unconditionally with leaders of rogue nations such as Iran.

McCain campaign officials say Mr. Obama's attempts to clarify his position will only weaken his case to win the White House.

Mr. Obama stepped back from his position on Monday, but Mr. McCain yesterday again mocked the idea of meeting directly with leaders of nations trying to obtain nuclear weapons, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"Today, some people seem to think they've discovered a brand new cause, something no one before them ever thought of. Many believe all we need to do to end the nuclear programs of hostile governments is to have our president talk with leaders in Pyongyang and Tehran, as if we haven't tried talking to these governments repeatedly over the past two decades," Mr. McCain said in a speech at the University of Denver.

Mr. Obama, the Democratic presidential front-runner, has been pummeled for weeks by Mr. McCain and other Republicans for pledging to meet with the leaders of countries such as Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela with "no conditions." The senator from Illinois said the U.S. president should not fear face-to-face dialogue with any foreign leader.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and several other prominent Democrats have broken with Mr. Obama over the issue.

"Throughout my career, I've talked to a lot of bad guys. You know, I have talked to [Cuban dictator Fidel] Castro. I think you don't talk to Ahmadinejad. You talk to some of the moderate clerics," Mr. Richardson said last Wednesday on Fox News.

While campaigning in New Mexico this week, Mr. Obama sought to reframe his position. He noted that Iran holds a presidential election four months after the next U.S. president takes office in January, and that Mr. Ahmadinejad's popularity is weakening.

"There's no reason why we would necessarily meet with Ahmadinejad before we know that he was actually in power," Mr. Obama told reporters Monday. "He's not the most powerful person in Iran."

The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a statement Monday that said Iran may be withholding information needed to establish whether it tried to make nuclear arms.