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Obama vows 'tough, hard-headed' diplomacy with Iran
Source: Xinhua |
June 16, 2009, Tuesday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
THE United States will persist with its "tough, hard-headed" diplomacy with Iran, President Barack Obama said in Washington yesterday, days after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, leader of hardliners of the Islamic Republic, was re-elected as president of the country.
"The use of tough, hard-headed diplomacy, diplomacy with no illusions about Iran and the nature of the differences between our two countries is critical when it comes to pursuing a core set of our national security interests," Obama told reporters after meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi at the White House.
On Iran's current rioting that resulted from the disputed presidential elections, Obama said that he was "deeply troubled" by violence when he watched TV reports from the Islamic Republic.
"Whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting, and whenever the American people see that, I think they're rightfully troubled," said Obama.
However, Obama noted that "it is up to Iranians to make a decision about who Iran's leaders will be," adding that "we respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran."
It was reported that thousands of angry demonstrators clashed with police in Tehran, the capital of Iran, since the weekend after Iranian authorities declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the presidential ballot.
Former Iranian Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was Ahmadinejad's main rival in the presidential campaign, has denounced the balloting as a fraud and has called for the cancellation of the results. He said yesterday that he was ready to take part in a new election.
To curb escalating national turmoil, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the Guardian Council of the Constitution, which enjoys the right for acceptance or rejection of elections' legality and candidates' competency, to investigate the claims of fraud in the recent presidential election.
Both the White House and the State Department have refrained from making direct comment on the re-election of Iranian incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Instead, it said it would continue to monitor the political development in the Islamic Republic.
"The use of tough, hard-headed diplomacy, diplomacy with no illusions about Iran and the nature of the differences between our two countries is critical when it comes to pursuing a core set of our national security interests," Obama told reporters after meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi at the White House.
On Iran's current rioting that resulted from the disputed presidential elections, Obama said that he was "deeply troubled" by violence when he watched TV reports from the Islamic Republic.
"Whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting, and whenever the American people see that, I think they're rightfully troubled," said Obama.
However, Obama noted that "it is up to Iranians to make a decision about who Iran's leaders will be," adding that "we respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran."
It was reported that thousands of angry demonstrators clashed with police in Tehran, the capital of Iran, since the weekend after Iranian authorities declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the presidential ballot.
Former Iranian Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was Ahmadinejad's main rival in the presidential campaign, has denounced the balloting as a fraud and has called for the cancellation of the results. He said yesterday that he was ready to take part in a new election.
To curb escalating national turmoil, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the Guardian Council of the Constitution, which enjoys the right for acceptance or rejection of elections' legality and candidates' competency, to investigate the claims of fraud in the recent presidential election.
Both the White House and the State Department have refrained from making direct comment on the re-election of Iranian incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Instead, it said it would continue to monitor the political development in the Islamic Republic.
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