WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says Iran’s election of a relative moderate shows that the country’s people “want to move in a different direction.” But he says Tehran still needs to show the international community that it is not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Obama says in an interview with PBS’ Charlie Rose airing Monday night that Iranian voters “rebuffed the hardliners” in the election by voting for cleric Hasan Rowhani. But he says the U.S. is not prepared to talk to the Iranian government immediately.
Obama says the U.S. remains open to new nuclear talks with Iran but the Middle Eastern nation needs to recognize that powerful economic sanctions will not be lifted unless Iran takes significant steps to make clear it’s not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
