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The Raw StoryTEHRAN –
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday the Islamic republic is ready to reciprocate if US President Barack Obama changes American attitude towards his country.
"If you change your attitude, we will change our attitude," Khamenei said in a groundbreaking address to thousands of Iranians in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad which was broadcast on state television.Speaking a day after Obama offered Tehran a "new beginning" to turn back the tide on decades of mutual animosity, Khamenei -- the final decision maker on Iranian strategic issues -- said however Iran is yet to see any change in Washington's attitude towards Tehran.
"We have no experience with the new American government and the new American president. We will observe them and we will judge," he said.
"We cannot see any change. What is the change in your policy? Did you remove the sanctions? Did you stop supporting the Zionist regime? Tell us what you have changed. We can't see change even in the words of the new American president. Change only in words is not enough. Change must be real," Khamenei said.
"The American leaders and others must know that they can't deceive our nation or scare it."
Khamenei accused Washington of having had a "hostile" attitude towards Tehran since the Islamic revolution toppled the US-backed shah in 1979.
"They supported all the terrorist and opponent groups" against Iran, he said.
"We can see the American hand behind these groups. Unfortunately, this support is still continuing," he said, adding that US-backed groups were aiding rebels fighting Iranian security forces along the Iran-Pakistan border.
"The new American government wants to negotiate. They say to forget the past and are extending their hand. But if it is an iron hand in a velvet glove, it won't have a good meaning," he said.
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