Jonah, Andy, I concur with your frustration for the reasons you mention and more: The apology is ironic since the clerics were among Mossadegh’s fiercest opponents — the conservative religious factions distrusted Mossadegh’s leftism and it was not uncommon to see the Tudeh (Iran’s Communist party) and seminary students clash in the streets. In effect, we are apologizing to co-conspirators.

As for the Khobar attack, the Clinton administration actually demanded that a classified report disseminated electronically to relevant U.S. government offices detailing Iranian involvement be destroyed so as not to leak and embarrass the diplomatic outreach. (There are still a few copies printed out and gathering dust in various offices, however. Perhaps Obama’s openness should extend to declassifying this report).