Source: BBC Radio 4 Today
In addition to debates that have arisen in Washington over how hard-hitting President Obama should be in response to the situation in Iran, there is also debate over whether the existence of these protests can be attributed to the election of Obama himself. Karim Sadjadpour comments, "I do think there is a real link between the election of Barack Obama and some of the fissures which we are seeing now in Tehran. The argument I would make is that whereas the Bush administration united Iran's disparate political factions against a common threat, Obama's overtures to Iran have really accentuated these deep internal rifts amongst Iranian political elites. Between a small minority faction that wants to continue this "death to America" culture of 1979 and the vast majority of the Iranian population, but I would also argue the vast majority of the Iranian political elite."