President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the United States was ready to engage diplomatically with longtime foe Iran but put the onus on the new Iranian president to prove he is serious about pursuing a nuclear deal.
Striking a cautiously optimistic tone in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Obama said he was determined to test President Hassan Rouhani’s recent overtures and challenged him to take concrete steps toward resolving Iran’s long-running nuclear dispute with the West. “Conciliatory words will have to be matched by actions that are transparent and verifiable,” Obama told the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.
Rouhani’s recent gestures, including agreement to renew long-stalled talks with world powers on its nuclear program, have raised hopes for a historic opening in relations between Washington and Tehran after more than three decades of estrangement.
The White House has left open the possibility that Obama and Rouhani could meet – at least for a handshake on the UN sidelines – later on Tuesday. Even a fleeting encounter would be important given that it would be the first face-to-face contact between US and Iranian heads of government since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed shah.
Seeking to keep expectations under control, Obama said suspicions between the two countries were too entrenched to believe their troubled history can be overcome overnight.
“The roadblocks may prove to be too great but I firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested,” Obama said. Obama suggested that Rouhani’s recent overtures could provide the basis for an elusive deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and said he had instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to mount a diplomatic effort along with other world powers. But Obama stopped short of offering any concessions such as a softening of sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
He reaffirmed his pledge that his administration would not tolerate Iran’s development of nuclear weapons but avoided repeating his previous assertion that all options are on the table – code for possible military action – in dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue.
