November 11, 2008	Tuesday	Ziqa'ad 12, 1429

TEHRAN, Nov 10: Iran on Monday said it is not expecting any great difference in Washington’s policy towards Tehran when Barack Obama takes over as president in January.

“We should not expect much change or development in the strategic fundamentals of US foreign policy,” foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi told reporters at a weekly press conference when asked if Iran expected Mr Obama to talk to the current government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or wait under after the June presidential election in the Islamic republic.

Mr Ahmadinejad himself was quick to congratulate Mr Obama after his election win last week, an unprecedented move by an Iranian leader during the nearly 30 years of severed ties between Washington and Tehran.

Mr Ghashghavi said Iran’s own strategies were not determined by changing governments.

“The macro and strategic policies of the Islamic republic are outlined by the will of the Imam (revolutionary founder Ruhollah Khomeini), the guidelines of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the nation’s constitution,” he added.

Mr Khamenei has yet to react to Obama’s election but ahead of the poll in the United States he said his country’s hatred of Washington remained deep-rooted.—AFP