The phone call

I was delighted to read that President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had a telephone conversation with each other. This phone call is significant because it is the first such discussion between an American president and an Iranian president since the revolution in Iran in 1979.

Back in June, I wrote about how pleased I am that the people of Iran elected Mr. Rouhani, a moderate. I expressed hope that Mr. Rouhani would carry out on his campaign promises, specifically improving Iran's international relations — with the West in particular; since his inauguration he has pursued that goal.

Both presidents seem to have enjoyed their conversation and have considered it productive. I am glad, because I feel that there has been too much talk for the past few years of striking Iran's nuclear programme and I strongly oppose new wars — there is too much conflict already, especially in the Middle East. While I don't support Iran (or any other nation, for that matter) having nuclear weapons, I also don't support any sort of military action against them. Anything that helps to prevent a war, such as this phone call, is beneficial to everyone.

I cannot see why anyone would object to something that would greatly reduce the chances of a new war while improving relations with Iran. Unless they have a deep hatred of Mr. Obama that they will oppose anything he does no matter what and/or are a warmonger, there is no reason to hold a negative opinion of the conversation between the two presidents. We should be glad that they both desire the dispute to have a friendly and mutually acceptable end.

Mr. Rouhani has stated that he'd like the nuclear dispute to be resolved within the next six months. While I think that's a little too optimistic (although I hope I'm wrong and everything is settled in that time), at least he and the West are speaking in much friendlier tones than before the recent Iranian presidential election and are moving towards a peaceful outcome. In that situation, everyone wins.