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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking - Source: Reuters -
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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Barack Obama of behaving
like his predecessor towards Iran and said there was not much point
in talking to Washington unless the US president apologised.
Obama said on Tuesday he was appalled and outraged by a
post-election crackdown and Washington withdrew invitations to
Iranian diplomats to attend US Independence Day celebrations on
July 4 - stalling efforts to improve ties with Tehran.
"Mr Obama made a mistake to say those things ... our question is
why he fell into this trap and said things that previously (former
US President George W.) Bush used to say," the semi-official Fars
News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
"Do you want to speak with this tone? If that is your stance
then what is left to talk about... I hope you avoid interfering in
Iran's affairs and express your regret in a way that the Iranian
nation is informed of it," he said.
About 20 people have died in demonstrations following the disputed
June 12 election. Police and militia have flooded Tehran's streets
since Saturday, quelling the most widespread anti-government
protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The unrest has exposed unprecedented rifts within Iran's clerical
establishment, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who
normally stays above the political fray, siding strongly with
Ahmadinejad.
"My personal judgment is that this is a country deeply split and
emotionalised," a Western diplomat in the region said. The protests
had shown how dissatisfied some parts of society were with the way
Iran was run - to the chagrin of its leadership.
"I think they are deeply shocked," the diplomat said.
Behind-the-scenes struggle
Khamenei has upheld the result and Iran's top legislative body, the
Guardian Council, has refused to annul the elections.
State Press TV quoted a spokesman for the council as saying they
were among the healthiest elections ever held in the country.
The wife of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, who says he won
the poll, said it was a "duty to continue legal protests to
preserve Iranian rights".
Mousavi supporters said they would release thousands of balloons on
Friday imprinted with the message "Neda you will always remain in
our hearts" - a reference to the young woman killed last week who
has become an icon of the protests.
But analysts say the battle has now moved off the street into a
protracted behind-the-scenes struggle between powerful
establishment figures, including former president Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani, and Ahmadinejad and Khamenei.
Obama had previously been muted in his criticism.
But on Tuesday he said that, "the United States and the
international community have been appalled and outraged by the
threats, the beatings, and imprisonments of the last few
days."
Before the election, Obama had tried to improve ties with Iran -
branded by Bush as part of an axis of evil.
Washington had been hoping to convince Tehran to drop what it
suspects are plans to develop nuclear bombs, while also seeking its
help in stabilising Afghanistan.
It had invited Iranian diplomats to attend Independence Day
celebrations for the first time since Washington cut diplomatic
ties with Tehran in 1980.
The move to withdraw the invites was largely symbolic as no
Iranians had even responded.
Mohammad Marandi, who is the head of North American Studies at
Tehran University, said mistrust of the United States and Britain,
was rife, partly due to the very negative role of US- and
British-funded Persian-language television stations.
"They are working 24 hours a day spreading rumours and trying to
turn people against each other," he said.
"In the short term relations will definitely get worse, but in the
long term the US really has to re-think its policy and to recognise
that regime change is not possible in Iran."
