Iran’s president expressed hope on Wednesday that the next US president would take steps to end the nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze with Washington.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking to a gathering of more than 400 university students and professors, opened the door for better ties but noted that Washington would have to take the first step.
“We [Iran] don’t insist on better relations, but it’s better to have better relations,” said Ahmadinejad, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly.
Ahmadinejad sidestepped a direct question on his preference for the White House, but he urged the next US president to try to “fix ties with Iran.”
The meetings with students from dozens of universities around the country was intended as another outreach to the US academic community after last year’s testy visit to Columbia University.
The university president faced protests for hosting Ahmadinejad and then opened the gathering by saying the Iranian leader showed “signs of a petty and cruel dictator.”
Ahmadinejad this time hosted the students in a New York hotel under tight security by US and Iranian agents.
Questions from the students ranged from oil prices to Israel to gay rights in Iran. Ahmadinejad used the session to often denounce US policies, particularly in Iraq, and Washington’s pressure on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
But he also offered some room for compromise with the next US administration, which he urged to “fix ties with Iran.”
Washington has proposed opening a US interest section in Tehran and possibly expanding other cooperation.
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