Ahmadinejad: Iran ready for talk with U.S. based on 'mutual respect'

Iran's hard-line president said Tuesday that his country was prepared talks with the United States - as long as mutual respect is exercises between the longtime adversaries. This was Tehran's strongest signal yet of welcoming new U.S. President Barack Obama's calls for dialogue.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the comments in a speech to hundreds of thousands celebrating the 30th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution, which ousted the U.S.-backed shah and installed rule by hard-line Muslim clerics - the event that put Iran and the U.S. on a track to a collapse in relations and years of enmity.

A day earlier, Obama said his administration was looking foropportunities to engage Iran and pledged to rethink Washington's relationship with Tehran.

Since Obama's election, Iranian leaders have struck a cautious tone over his campaign promises to open a dialogue with Tehran, giving signs that the government was undecided on how to respond. But Ahmadinejad said directly that Iran is prepared to talk and even cited possible areas for discussion - terrorism, the elimination of nuclear weapons, restructuring the U.N. Security Council and fighting drug trafficking.

"The Iranian nation is ready for talks (with the U.S.), but in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect," Ahmadinejad told the crowds in Tehran's Freedom Square.

But Ahmadinejad also declared that Iran is now a superpower - pointing to the recent launching of the first locally-made satellite into space - and made clear it expects to be treated as an equal.

"If you really want to fight terrorism, come and cooperate with the Iranian nation, which is the biggest victim of terrorism so that terrorism is eliminated. ... If you want to confront nuclear weapons ... you need to stand beside Iran so it can introduce a correct path to you," he said.

In a show of national pride, a model of the new satellite and the rocket that launched stood among the flag-waving crowds at the rally. As usual at such gatherings, there were chants of Death to America, along with the burning of U.S. and Israeli flags. But the chanting stopped as Ahmadinejad spoke of dialogue with the United States, and the firebrand president refrained from the denunciations of America that often mark his speeches. State television showed similar rallies in cities across Iran, saying millions of people turned out for the celebrations.

Ahmadinejad's speech also comes as he enters a campaign for second term in a June election - and he could face a tough fight after Iran's top reformist politician, former President Mohammad Khatami, entered the race over the weekend. Khatami has supported improving ties with the West.

Tehran and Washington severed relations nearly three decades ago after the 1979 Iranian revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by hard-line Iranian students.

But relations deteriorated even further after the Sept. 11 attacks when former President George W. Bush declared Iran belonged to an axis of evil. Ahmadinejad widened that gap after he was elected in 2005 and defied the U.S. and its allies by pursuing Iran's controversial nuclear program.

The U.S. believes Iran is secretly trying to pursue nuclear weapons, but Iran has denied this accusation, saying its program is solely for peaceful purposes such as electricity.

So far, it has been unclear what Iran and the United States would talk about in any renewed dialogue. Years of negotiations between Tehran and Europe over its nuclear program have so far failed to make any breakthroughs, with Iran repeatedly rejecting U.S. and European economic incentives to suspend parts of its program and brushing off UN sanctions.

But Washington and Tehran did cooperate closely in the 2001 ousting of Afghanistan's Taliban - before Bush's axis of evil speech. The Bush administration also held direct talks with Iran on stabilizing Iraq, and the U.S. military later reported a reduction in Iran's arming of Shiite militias in the country.

Tehran has always denied arming the militias. Iranian political analyst Davoud Hermidas Bavand said talks on stabilizing Iraq and Afghanistan are good topics to start with. That may open the way for talks on Iran's nuclear program and Iranian concerns about U.S. Mideast policy, he said.

Iran accuses the United States of seeking to dominate the region. Washington in turn accuses Iran of using its militant allies like Hamas and Hezbollah to stir up trouble in the Middle East.

But Bavand warned against expecting a quick detente. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who holds ultimate political authority - must approve any restoring of ties with the United States, he said, and there is no sign that the ruling establishment is willing to give up animosity toward Washington.

Still, Ahmadinejad would likely not give such a public welcome to dialogue without Khamenei's approval, suggesting the top leadership has decided at least to sound out Obama's intentions.

Obama said Monday that his national security team was reviewing its existing Iran policy and looking at areas where we can have constructive dialogue. He said he expected that his administration would be looking for openings where Washington and Tehran can sit face-to-face.

Ahmadinejad repeated demands that Washington must make fundamental changes in policy, moving away from what Tehran calls attempts at domination - like the Bush administration's war in Iraq, push for sanctions against Iran and support for Israel.

"The world is entering an era of dialogue and intellect," Ahmadinejad said. "The world does not want to see the dark age of Bush repeated."