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ust of Iran that stemmed from the 1979 hostage-taking had hardened into a one- dimensional view of the Islamic Republic as wholly malign. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial and vicious rants against the existence of Israel confirmed Americans' worst fears. On the Iranian side, the list of real and perc
nd the destruction of an Iranian civilian airliner and its passengers in 1988. Iranians called the US the Great Satan. The US named Iran as part of the Axis of Evil. For most of these decades, even a EFTA00651266 handshake between officials was taboo and an Iranian who advocated improving the relationship cou
ust of Iran that stemmed from the 1979 hostage-taking had hardened into a one-dimensional view of the Islamic Republic as wholly malign. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial and vicious rants against the existence of Israel confirmed Americans' worst fears. On the Iranian side, the list of real and p
d the destruction of an Iranian civilian airliner and its passengers in 1988. Iranians called the US the Great Satan. The US named Iran as part of the Axis of Evil. For most of these decades, even a handshake between officials was taboo and an Iranian who advocated improving the relationship could find himself
record. Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami spoke of a grand dialogue between civilizations, with little to show for it. Even the firebrand Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arguably the most divisive figure in Iranian politics since 1979, could not EFTA_R1_02208405 EFTA02722915 make his boldest moves absent approva
ere is no time like the present for a reformist to meet and greet the Great Satan. Likewise, a face-to-face meeting with a card-carrying member of the Axis of Evil could be a Nixonian moment for President Barack Obama. Groundbreaking political discourse and a thawing of relations might be the first step toward
Entities connected to both Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Axis of Evil

Barack Obama
PERSON
Tehran
LOCATION
Bashar al-Assad
PERSON
United States
LOCATION
George W. Bush
PERSON
Benjamin Netanyahu
PERSON
Lebanon
LOCATION
Terje Rod-Larsen
PERSON
Damascus
LOCATION
Cairo
LOCATION
Middle East
LOCATION
Saddam Hussein
PERSON
Marc Rich
PERSON
Tunisia
LOCATION
Fatah
ORGANIZATION
Mahmoud Abbas
PERSONSinai
LOCATION
Department of Justice
ORGANIZATIONRevolutionary Guard
ORGANIZATION
Capitol Hill
ORGANIZATION