Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused US President Barack Obama of behaving like his predecessor on Iran and called on him to apologize for what he called US interference following the Iranian elections.
Obama has ramped up his previously muted criticism, saying he was “appalled and outraged” by a crackdown on protests which followed Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.
“Mr Obama made a mistake to say those things ... our question is why he fell into this trap and said things that previously [former US president George W.] Bush used to say,” Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
About 20 people have been killed in the demonstrations, but police and militia have flooded Tehran’s streets since Saturday, quelling the majority of protests after the most widespread anti-government unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The turmoil has dimmed prospects for Obama’s outreach to Iran over its nuclear program, with Tehran blaming the UK and the US for fomenting violence.
“I hope you avoid interfering in Iran’s affairs and express your regret in a way that the Iranian nation is informed of it,” Ahmadinejad said.
Iran’s reformist opposition leaders have vowed to press on with legal challenges to an election they say was rigged.
The wife of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, who says he won the poll, said it was a “duty to continue legal protests to preserve Iranian rights.”
Mousavi supporters said they would release thousands of balloons today imprinted with the message “Neda you will always remain in our hearts” — a reference to the young woman killed last week who has become an icon of the protests.
Riot police dispersed a group of about 200 demonstrators with teargas on Wednesday, but the protest was quiet by recent standards.
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