Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that his country is ready to talk to the United States in a climate of equality and mutual respect. "The Iranian nation will welcome true changes and is ready for dialogue in a climate of equality and mutual respect," he said in a speech to mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
"It is clear that the change must be fundamental and not tactical," he told a mass rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square.
US President Barack Obama on Monday renewed his call for a direct dialogue with Iran, saying he hoped to create the conditions to "start sitting across the table, face to face" in the coming months. "My expectation is, in the coming months, we will be looking for openings that can be created where we can start sitting across the table face-to-face with diplomatic overtures that will allow us to move our policy in the new direction," Obama said on Monday.
"I officially announce that Iran today is a real and true superpower," Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, according to AFP.
Ahmadinejad advised Obama on Tuesday to avoid the policies of former president George W. Bush. "The world does not want the dark era of Bush to repeat. If some people seek to repeat that experience even by other means they should know that they will face a much worse fate than Bush's," Ahmadinejad said.
The hardline Ahmadinejad also said that Iran no longer faced a threat from abroad. "The threats against the Iranian people have been now removed with their resistance and help of God," he said.
