There is something simply amazing about this. The video even has subtitles in Farsi. It is often said that the Internet allowed Obama to bypass the Washington DC media establishment and reach out directly to the American people; now he is using the same technology to bypass the Tehran establishment and speak directly to the Iranian people. This is a form of pragmatic liberal interventionism in its own right – and especially important given that the voice of the Iranian people, it’s bloggers, is increasingly under siege. 

Related – story at NPR with more details. Also, see the transcript and word cloud of Obama’s Nowruz message.

UPDATE: Obama’s video is “smart power” foreign policy in action – and has the mullahs running scared.