I’m glad that the Obama Administration has seen fit not to issue a visa to Hamid Aboutalebi, Iran’s new Ambassador to the UN. Aboutalebi was among those responsible for seizing the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and holding 52 Americans hostage.
I hope this appointment finally convinces the Obama Administration that the Iranian regime has not changed its spots, but this is highly doubtful. There is still every reason to believe the Obama Administration wants to make a deal with Iran. But there are some things that even the Obama Administration isn’t prepared to abide in pursuit of that deal. The idea of having a former hostage taker set foot on American soil was a bridge too far. Yet the Obama Administration has no trouble demanding that Israel release Palestinians in jail for murdering Israelis in order to get the Palestinians to the negotiating table. The Obama Administration should not be demanding anything of Israel it would not be prepared to do itself.
