Future Of Tehran-Washington Ties Depends On U.S. Election Results
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Monday said it was still waiting for the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections before it could make any comments on a possible evolution in Tehran-Washington ties.
"We will wait to see who finally becomes president," said foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi, adding: "Afterwards, we will comment."
Asefi who was speaking at a press conference in Tehran said, "If the new U.S. administration corrects the previous attitude of its leaders ... and contributes to a new atmosphere in relations between the two countries, it will be natural for Iran to reconsider."
The official stressed that Iran was expecting Washington to make "concrete gestures" towards the Islamic republic regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections.
Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since April 1980; several months after Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held the staff hostage.
Iranian officials and the press here have criticized the U.S. election, which remains undecided weeks after the vote amid unprecedented legal wrangling over a recount of votes in the key state of Florida.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month also mocked the polling, saying U.S. democracy was little more than "lying and cheating."
Conservatives regularly denounce what they see as American-style political reforms being promoted by the reformist movement, which won a majority in parliament in February's elections.
Moderate President Mohammad Khatami, who is expected to run for re-election next year, has moved to liberalize Iranian society and open up its economy, but has faced strong opposition from conservatives who control the courts, police and state media.
