Why Obama is quiet over Iran

John Dickerson explains why Barack Obama is keeping a low profile over Iran at Slate.

The situation is fragile. The U.S. position can't be explained in sound bites, and Obama doesn't want to talk, anyway. If he inserted himself into the story, he would be giving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a villain to point to. It would also distract from the story—which, as it plays out, is a good one: The Iranian people are protesting for democracy. Finally, the president needs to save his meddling for a bigger problem. Despite the current uproar, the urgent problem is how to stop Iran's effort to obtain nuclear weapons. Obama doesn't want to do anything that will keep him from getting back to that quickly.