Obama slams Iran, urges Mid-East dictators to heed protestors

WASHINGTON (AP)

Warily watching protests ripple across the Middle East, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that governments in the vital, volatile region are figuring out that they "can't maintain power through coercion." He slammed Iran as an exception, accusing the U.S. foe of beating and shooting protesters.

The public uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia have ignited protests and violent clashes in Bahrain, Yemen and Iran. With strategic U.S. interests in each of those countries, Obama conceded he is concerned about the region's stability. And he prodded governments to get out ahead of the change.

In his most expansive comments yet about the unrest spilling across the Middle East and north Africa, Obama signaled that he would stick with his Egyptian model: Prod governments to allow peaceful protests and to respond to grievances, but stay silent about who should run the countries or what change should look like.

The Egyptian experience has cemented Obama's doctrine of dealing with countries grappling with upheaval: direction that falls short of dictates. He said the lesson for all the nations is that they will only see lasting change, and gain both international and internal support for it, when it comes through "moral force."

"These are sovereign countries that are going to have to make their own decisions," Obama said at his first full news conference of the year. "What we can do is lend moral support to those who are seeking a better life for themselves."