Interesting analysis in the Jerusalem Post on Iran's immediate efforts to tarnish the image of President Elect Obama:

Despite this message, the conservative hard-line camp in Iran is worried about the overwhelming enthusiasm and support for the US that Obama's election has created around the world. A popular American president who talks about peace and wants to negotiate with Iran would take away their justification for leading the anti-American front in the Middle East. Furthermore, increased international support and credibility for the United States represents a more serious challenge to Iran, especially if the international community initiates new sanctions against Teheran. All this while oil prices are falling.

This is why efforts are already efforts under way in the Iranian press to tarnish Obama's image.

"A hawk in a dove's outfit" is the way the right-wing newspaper Keyhan described Obama in a front page article the day after his election. The article puts special emphasis on what it calls "Obama's praise of America's actions in Afghanistan and George Bush Sr.'s war in Iraq." It goes on to say, "Obama has never been peace-seeking."

Jomhuriye Eslami, another right-wing newspaper, has gone a step further. It headlined an editorial, "That Black Man Will Never Change US Policy." It went on to say that despite Obama's victory, US policy will remain the same because of "the structure of the American regime, which was established by capitalists, Zionists, and racists."

Something to keep in mind as Obama plots his course on foreign policy and grapples with the prospect of trying to keep Iran from going nuclear.