Iran and the end of the road

Iran has a new message for the West: Apologize for interfering in our affairs and then we'll talk — on our terms. That bodes ill for President Obama's quest for "mutually respectful" talks to resolve U.S.-Iranian differences. So does Iran's brutal suppression of dissent. The time has come to shelve hope for reconciliation and focus on an appropriately tough response to Iran's provocations.

Last Saturday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (whose "election" was confirmed Monday by the Guardian Council appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader) demanded an apology from President Barack Obama for his forthright condemnation of the regime's violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators protesting election fraud. If no apology is tendered, he warned, there would be ugly repercussions.

"You should know that if you continue, the response of the Iranian nation will be strong," Mr. Ahmadinejad said. "The response of the Iranian nation will be crushing. The response will cause remorse." Earlier, Supreme Leader Ali Khomenei accused "media belonging to Zionists, evil media" for what looked to the rest of the world as a spontaneous uprising.

Meanwhile Iran's top military officer, Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi criticized the European Union for supporting the demonstrations and said until it apologized for the "huge mistake," Iran would no longer hold nuclear talks with the EU.

In fact, Iran has not held nuclear talks with anyone for a year. It rejected last year's proposal from the United Nations Security Council's permanent members plus Germany for talks led by the European Union. When that offer was renewed in April, along with President Obama's offer of "honest" and respectful engagement with Iran, the Iranian reply was the same.

As Trudy Rubin observes on our Commentary page, if Iran were to agree to the talks sought by President Obama, it would gain an endorsement of the recent election and the legitimacy of President Ahmadinejad's rule. The opposition, which seeks a more democratic Iran, would be the loser.

Iran's current intransigence offers our president a way out of this possible trap. While leaving a door for negotiations slightly ajar, he should join other world leaders in openly devising stringent new sanctions on the Iranian economy, such as a suspension of gasoline sales — a move that candidate Obama endorsed.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is already showing the way. On Wednesday he said the heads of the Group of Eight nations will discuss possible new sanctions on Iran when they meet July 8-10 in southern Italy. President Obama will be there. Will he lead?