Iran… Ahmadinejad: Obama Siding With Iranian Protesters – A Mistake
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By AP AND JPOST.COM STAFF
Iran’s hard-line president lashed out again at the United States and President Barack Obama on Saturday.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, re-elected this month in a disputed vote that sparked huge protests, said the US response to the turmoil was a mistake and hinted it could imperil Obama’s aim of improving relations with Teheran.
“Why did he interfere?” Ahmadinejad said in remarks to judiciary officials shown on Iranian state television Saturday.
“They keep saying that they want to hold talks with Iran … but is this the correct way? Definitely, they have made a mistake,” Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad also said Iran will harden its position vis-a-vis Western powers on outstanding disputes.
Iran is developing a nuclear program it claims is aimed at producing energy. Western countries believe the program is a cover for a nuclear weapons program.
Meanwhile, street protests in Iran against the disputed election all but fizzled out as opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said he would seek official permission for any future rallies, effectively ending his role in the demonstrations.
The opposition may have little opportunity to keep momentum going within the limits of the law, and the international attention that appeared to bolster their morale could be waning.
Also, Mousavi’s Web site, his primary means for communicating with supporters, remained down on Saturday. An aide told the Associated Press Friday that the site had been hacked.
In one of the harshest statements from authorities since protests broke out after the June 12 election, Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami, a ranking cleric, said, “Anyone who takes up arms to fight with the people, they are worthy of execution.”
Those who disturbed the peace and destroyed public property were “at war with God” and should be “dealt with without mercy,” he said Friday in a nationally televised sermon.


