ANOTHER CALL for President Obama to prevent the sale of the Persepolis cuneiform tablets as compensation for terrorism, this from Trita Parsi at the Huffington Post. Excerpt:

Under the law, President Obama has the power to issue an executive waiver to stop the seizure of foreign assets if that would further US national security. Considering the importance of the President's efforts to reduce tensions with Iran and solicit its collaboration in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the dire consequences of failure, President Obama should do exactly that. It's not the easiest decision politically, but no one ever said overcoming 30 years of enmity would be easy.

If the President does have the power to stop the seizure and sale of the tablets, I hope he uses it. For my reasons, see here and here. That said, I don't think we should kid ourselves that stopping the sale will make the current Iranian Government like the USA any better, nor do I think that should be a concern in this debate. The tablets should be protected because cultural relics are the heritage of all humanity, they are not financial assets to be exploited for a cause, even a worthy one.