Ahmadinejad demands US apology

Iran’s hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded to initial overtures from the new US administration today by demanding an apology for America’s past “crimes”.

Ahmadinejad’s comments came after President Barack Obama indicated a new willingness to reach out to Muslims and the importance of engaging with Iran, a country the Bush administration often singled out as the most dangerous in the region.

Without mentioning Mr Obama by name, Ahmadinejad repeatedly referred to those who want to bring “change,” a word used often in the Obama election campaign, and seemed to indicate Iran would be looking to see whether there would be substantive differences in US policy.

“We will wait patiently, listen to their words carefully, scrutinise their actions under a magnifier and if change happens truly and fundamentally, we will welcome that,” Ahmadinejad said.

But he also criticised the United States, saying it should apologise to Iran.

“The change will be to apologise to the Iranian nation and try to compensate for their dark records and the crimes they have committed against the Iranian nation,” he said.

He also called on Washington to withdraw its troops from around the world and stop supporting Israel.

“Change means giving up support for the rootless, uncivilised, fabricated, murdering... Zionists and let the Palestinian nation decide its own destiny,” he said. “Change means putting an end to US military presence in (different spots of) the world.”

Yesterday Mr Obama condemned Iran’s threats to destroy Israel and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, but said “it is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress.”

Later US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US administration was undertaking a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of US foreign policy options toward Iran.

Mrs Clinton also said Iran had a “clear opportunity” to demonstrate willingness to engage meaningfully with the international community.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari said that it was too early to say whether relations with the United States would improve with Mr Obama as president.

Washington is at odds with Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program and its Middle East policy that seeks to destroy Israel and supports the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

The US and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge and refuses to give up uranium enrichment, saying it has the right under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty to produce nuclear fuel.

The US broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in 1979 after students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran.