Iranian presidential candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, expects US change in practice, Ahmadinejad Renews Call for Open Debate with Obama

Iranian presidential hopeful expects U.S. change in practice

2009-05-25 20:43:34

TEHRAN, May 25 (Xinhua) --

Iranian presidential hopeful Mehdi Karroubi said on Monday that Iran expects change in practice from the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The United States before and after Iran's Islamic Revolution (1979) has done wrong to the Iranians," Karroubi said, adding that "but the literature of Obama is different from that of (George W.) Bush. We regard it positive and Iran expects change in practice from the United States."

If Americans make some positive efforts to change their behaviors, it would benefit the resumption of the relationships, he added.

On Iran's nuclear issue, he said, "It is possible to solve the problem through negotiation, building confidence and avoiding provocative rhetoric."

Mehdi Karroubi has already demanded the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to avoid the provocative language in its foreign policy.

Karroubi, who served as parliament speaker from 1989 to 1992 and from 2000 to 2004, has announced his decision to run for presidency in Iran's upcoming presidential election in June.

The two reformist candidates -- Karroubi and former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi -- and former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei, a moderate conservative, are vying with the incumbent hard-liner president for the next presidency.

The tenth presidential election in Iran is slated for June 12.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Ahmadinejad Renews Call for Open Debate with US President

TEHRAN (FNA)-

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday voiced readiness to attend a public debate with his US counterpart Barack Obama at the United Nations over the root causes of the world problems.

"As I invited the US president to a debate in (my address to) the United Nations during my visit to New York in the past, I repeat my call for a debate (with the US president) to study the root causes of global problems and management and collective participation in (the establishment of) sustainable security and peace," Ahmadinejad told foreign reporters in a press conference at the presidential office here in Tehran today.

"The human being and powers should change their view about world management as this is the only way to establish sustainable peace," Ahmadinejad said, and added, "And a major part of this change should take place in the kind of look that the dominant ruling systems have over the world, and a new system should be created in the world equations."

Ahmadinejad offered Bush a televised debate before he traveled to the United Nations in 2006, a proposal that was spurned by the White House which said the suggestion was not serious.

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