Iran called the United States the biggest loser from the upheaval in the Middle East on Friday, a day after President Barack Obama made a speech reaching out to Arab people seeking greater democracy. The Islamic Republic, which crushed opposition protests following the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, has welcomed uprisings in its Arab neighbours as an “Islamic awakening” against Western backed dictators.
In its first reaction to Obama’s speech [nN19217505, the secretary general of Iran’s National Security Council said US Middle East policy, particularly its support for Israel and certain autocratic Arab states, had proven a failure.