By Mehdi Bagheri, Xinhua,
Tehran : Iran said it anticipated “practical” and “fundamental” changes in the U.S. policy as Washington looked forward to direct diplomacy with Tehran and urged Iran to take the opportunity to be engaged more productively.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the United States must make a “fundamental” change in its policy instead of only tactics.
“Changes can happen in two ways. One is a fundamental and effectual change and the other is a change of tactics,” Ahmadinejad told a rally in the western Iranian city of Khermenshah.
“Obviously we will soon know whether its meaning of change is the second one,” he added in the rally, which was broadcast live on state television.
In a recent interview with Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television, new U.S. President Barack Obama said “if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us.”
Observers said Iran’s expectations of “change” would be viewed as the preconditions set for the new U.S. officials ahead of earnest, direct and vigorous diplomacy.
In his Wednesday speech, the Iranian president also said that the United States must “apologize” for its “crimes against Iran” in the past 60 years and try to remedy its past faults.
“Those who say they want to make changes should apologize to the Iranian people and try to make up for their past faults and crimes they committed against Iran,” Ahmadinejad said.
He also said that the United States must stop interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, put an end to its expansionist policies and withdraw U.S. troops from other countries.
His remarks came one day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Iran to take opportunity offered by Obama to engage more productively on its nuclear program and other issues.
“There is a clear opportunity for the Iranians, as the president expressed in his interview, to demonstrate some willingness to engage meaningfully with the international community,” Clinton told her first press conference at the State Department on Tuesday.
Susan Rice, the new U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Monday that “We look forward to engaging in vigorous diplomacy that includes direct diplomacy with Iran.”
However, she said the refusal by Iran to meet international obligations would cause increasing pressure.
“We will look at what is necessary and appropriate with respect to maintaining pressure toward that goal of ending Iran’s nuclear program,” she added.
In a reaction to the recent U.S. signals for enhancing diplomacy, Iran’s government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said on Tuesday that Iran was waiting for the “practical changes” in the U.S. policy.
“The United States has to accept that it is a government within its own limits, not an empire… and we are waiting to see if such changes will come true,” Elham said.
The United States and its allies have accused Tehran of its intention to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran denied the charges and insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
The United States severed its ties with Iran in 1980. Since then, Washington has been trying to beef up its sanctions against Tehran for allegedly developing secretly nuclear weapons and for being involved in anti-U.S. coalition forces activities.