Ahmadinejad Tells Obama
World Expects US to Change
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated US President-Elect Barack Obama--the first time an Iranian leader has extended such felicitations to a US president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“I congratulate your Excellency on receiving the majority of votes in the [presidential] election. You know that the opportunities given by the God to the people are transitory; they could be used for the progress of the people or against them. I am hopeful that by prioritizing the real needs of the people over the insatiable demands of a selfish and corrupt minority, you would take the opportunity and make a good name for yourself in history,“ Ahmadinejad said in his message.
“The world’s nations expect that [US] policies based on warmongering, occupation, bullying, deceit, humiliation of other nations and, discrimination and unfair relations, which have led to the hatred of all the nations and most of the world’s governments for the US rulers, would turn into a behavior based on justice, respect for the rights of [other] people and nations, friendship and noninterference in others’ affairs.“
The Iranian president also called on the United States to limit its interference along Iran’s borders, Presstv reported.
“In the sensitive Middle East, it is expected that the 60-year-old unjust behavior [of the US] would change into giving back the nations, especially the innocent Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan people, their full rights,“ he said.
Democrat Obama defeated his Republican rival John McCain by a wide margin in the US presidential election on November 4, to become the first African-American to assume the Oval Office.
Many believe that the election of Obama in his campaign pledges promised to make a change for the better in the United States and the world.
“The great Iranian nation welcomes fundamental, just and real changes in the [US] policies and behavior, particularly in the Middle East, “he said.
The US and Iran do not have diplomatic relations. Washington severed ties with Tehran after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also on Wednesday expressed hope that Obama would “fulfill his commitments and bring change to Washington and its affairs“.
He also said Obama’s election indicated that the American people “wholeheartedly support fundamental changes in the bedrock of US policies“.
Ties Depend on Obama
A senior Iranian MP said a change in Tehran’s attitude toward Washington depends on the American administration’s policies and the way it deals with Iran.
“We cannot expect a fundamental change in the White House attitude toward Iran, but the change depends on Obama himself,“ said the Chairman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi. Iran’s Government Spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said on Wednesday that the time has come for Obama to fulfill his promises with respect to changing the US policy.
Referring to previous requests from US officials to negotiate with Iran, Boroujerdi said “they make these requests but at the same time attempt to overthrow the Iranian administration“.
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