US President Barack Obama has warned Iran the "world is watching" its actions, and stated the United States stood with those seeking "peaceful" justice following the election.
"I'm very concerned based on some of the tenor -- and tone of the statements that have been made -- that the government of Iran recognize that the world is watching," Obama said in an interview with CBS News. "And how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard will, I think, send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and -- and is not," Obama said in an interview with CBS.
Acording to Obama, the United States stood behind those in Iran who sought peaceful justice. Asked whether he had a message to the demonstrators, Obama replied "I absolutely do. "We stand behind those who are seeking justice in a peaceful way.
"We stand with those who would look to peaceful resolution of conflict and we believe that the voices of people have to be heard, that's a universal value that the American people stand for and this administration stands for."
The U.S. leader dismissed claims by some in the Iranian leadership that the reformist demonstrators were acting at the behest of the United States. "Let's understand that this notion that somehow these hundreds of thousands of people who are pouring into the streets in Iran are somehow responding to the West or the United States.
"That's an old distraction that I think has been trotted out periodically. And that's just not going to fly."
According to AFP, Obama noted: "This is not an issue of the United States or the West versus Iran; this is an issue of the Iranian people."
