US President Barack Obama said Monday that he was "deeply troubled" by violence in Iran, but warned he did not want the United States to become a "political football" in the post-election crisis.
Obama also vowed that despite the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he would stick to his vow to pursue "tough, hard headed" diplomacy with "no illusions" towards the Islamic Republic.
Treading a fine political line, Obama also said he wanted to be "very clear" that "it is up to Iranians to make a decision about who Iran's leaders will be."
"We respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran," Obama said, adding that in the past America had become a "political football" in the domestic politics of its arch-foe.
But Obama also added that he was "deeply troubled" by the violence he had been seeing in television news broadcasts from Tehran.
"I think that the democratic process, free speech, the ability for folks to peacefully dissent, all those are universal values and need to be respected.
"Whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting, and whenever the American people see that, I think they're rightfully troubled."
But Obama said he was prepared to continue with his plan to offer a diplomatic opening to Iran, and to discuss the country's nuclear program, despite finding the anti-Jewish rhetoric of Ahmadinejad "odious."
"The use of tough, hard-headed diplomacy, diplomacy with no illusions about Iran and the nature of the differences between our two countries is critical when it comes to pursuing a core set of our national security interests," Obama said.
Obama spoke after one protestor was reportedly shot dead Monday as one of Iran's worst crises since the Islamic revolution of 1979 intensified, with the opposition's supporters vigorously denouncing the elections as a sham.
If confirmed, it would be the first death since protests flared after Ahmadinejad was declared to have defeated opposition candidate moderate former premier, Mir Hossein Mousavi, in Friday's polls winning 63 percent of the vote.
Source: AFP American Edition
