By Associated Press
LONDON — President Barack Obama reiterated that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy – provided it takes steps to prove its aspirations are peaceful.
In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, Obama also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it to set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor.
Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. But the U.S. and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons.
“Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the international community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region,” Obama said.
The comments echo remarks Obama made in Prague last month in which he said his administration would “support Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy with rigorous inspections” if Iran proves it is no longer a nuclear threat.
The president has indicated a willingness to seek deeper international sanctions against Tehran if it does not respond positively to U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama has said Tehran has until the end of the year to show it wants to engage.
“Although I don’t want to put artificial time tables on that process, we do want to make sure that, by the end of this year, we’ve actually seen a serious process move forward. And I think that we can measure whether or not the Iranians are serious,” Obama said.
Obama’s interview offered a preview of a speech he is to deliver in Egypt this week, saying he hoped the address would warm relations between Americans and Muslims abroad.
“What we want to do is open a dialogue,” Obama told the BBC. “You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world. And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West.”
Obama leaves Tuesday evening on a trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia aimed at reaching out to the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims. He is due to make his speech in Cairo on Thursday.
Obama sounded an optimistic note about making progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although he offered no new ideas for how he might try to secure a freeze on new building of Israeli settlements. The United States has called for a freeze, but Israeli leaders have rejected that.
Asked what he would say during his visit about human rights abuses, including the detention of political prisoners in Egypt, Obama indicated no stern lecture would be forthcoming.
He said he hoped to deliver the message that democratic values are principles that “they can embrace and affirm.”
Obama added that there is a danger “when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture.”
Preident Obama is and will allways be a good friend of the Jews!!!
god help
If you cant impose, why are they imposing it on North Korea? He is using Iran as a pawn against Israel. Showing that if they don’t want to give up settlements he won’t support the proliferation of the Iranian nuclear program.
If history is correct he will win a second term the same way Carter did. As they say, you can fool some people some of the times. You cant fool everyone all the time.
If Iran was onmly interested in an energy source why didn’t they allow any inspections by the UN? how naive can Obama be ?
who cares about economy? you should care more about your jewish bretheren, unless of course you’re not jewish
someone should get an address or email address where we can all write to complain about his stupidity
Iran ranks second in the world in natural gas reserves and third in oil reserves. Why does it need nuclear energy?
“there is a danger “when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture” Obama doesn’t know Israeli/Jewish history or culture. If he did, he would not insist that Israel give up any land.
He was much better then McCain and can fix the economy
but he’s foreign policy is dreadful