By IANS,
Tehran : Iran has said it is closely observing the administrative restructuring in Washington under president-elect Barack Obama for any possible change of attitude toward the Islamic country, official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday.
Talking to reporters during his weekly press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed-Ali Husseini said Monday Tehran is closely watching for possible shift in “the 30 years’ of negative approach” toward Iran under the new US administration.
Asked about Turkish mediation between Iran and the US, he said Tehran believes the comments made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stem from Turkish goodwill and the growing neighbourly ties between Iran and Turkey.
“But the reality is that the issue and problems between Iran and the United states go beyond the usual political problems between the two countries,” he said, adding that the US authorities have had negative approach toward Iran during the past 30 years.
The New York Times said last week Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan offered to mediate between Tehran and Washington.
Iran presently is under three sets of mild UN sanctions for refusing to stop its uranium enrichment activities that US and the West believe to be a part of a clandestine weapons programme Tehran is pursuing in the guise of a civilian nuclear project.
Iran has refuted the charge but also insisted it would not stop its enrichment activities.
Obama, who fought the election with the slogan of change, had said Iran could not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons but also suggested he was open to talks with Tehran to resolve the crisis.