Posted on 09/14/2009 7:44:28 AM PDT by FourPeas
Tehran, 14 Sept. (AKI) - United States president Barack Obama is being held "captive by extremist Republicans", said the media advisor and close aide to Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday.
Ali Akbar Javanfakr, quoted by Iran's student news agency ISNA, said Obama's stance and behaviour regarding Iran shows that "he is held captive by extremist Republicans and has been very unsuccessful with keeping George Bush’s ideas out of the White House."
In addition, Javanfekr said Obama also needs to find radical solutions for problems if it wants sustainable relations with Iran.
"If Americans favour sustainable and trustworthy ties with Iran, they must welcome radical settlement of issues."
Ahmadinejad's aide also repeated calls for a debate with Obama and the Iranian president at the United Nations General Assembly.
"Holding a free debate in presence of reporters and envoys of other countries will turn a new page in international ties and in light of this debate, Iran and US can establish new ties based on friendship, mutual respect and guarantee for mutual interests," he said.
However, Javanfekr also announced Ahmadinejad had no plans to hold talks with US officials while in New York for the UN General Assembly.
Washington has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when university students loyal to Ayatollah Khomeini took over the US embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
Since that time the relationship between the two countries remains strained.
The US and other western countries suspect Iran may covertly be building nuclear weapons.
However, Iran has consistently claimed its uranium enrichment programme is entirely peaceful and aimed solely at civilian nuclear power, in line with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
On Friday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country would not compromise on its right to nuclear energy.
The United Nations Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran since 2006, targeting Iranian companies and individuals linked to the nuclear programme.
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