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Drawing a Line on Syria, U.S. Eyes Iran Talks
(New York Times) Robert F. Worth - As the Obama administration makes a case for punitive airstrikes on the Syrian government, its strongest card may be the need to send a message to another country: Iran. If the U.S. does not enforce its self-imposed "red line" on Syria's use of chemical weapons, Iran will smell weakness and press ahead more boldly in its quest for nuclear weapons. The debate over chemical weapons also has raised questions about the strength of Iran's commitment to the government of President Assad of Syria. Iran suffered terrible losses from chemical weapon strikes during its decade-long war with Iraq in the 1980s, and the issue is a delicate one for many Iranians. Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria on his English-language Twitter feed.