U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he saw little difference between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims election results were tilted in the incumbent President’s favor. “It’s important to understand that although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised,” he said.
Obama claimed that “either way we are going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighborhood, and has been pursuing nuclear weapons.” He said it wouldn’t be productive for him “to be seen as meddling in Iranian elections.”