IRAN SLAPS O OLIVE BRANCH
  • Iran's supreme leader yesterday rebuffed President Obama's latest outreach for peace.

    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was responding to a video message Obama released Friday in which he reached out to Iran on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian new year, and expressed hopes for improved relations after 30 years of hostility.

    Khamenei holds the last word on major policy decisions, and how Iran ultimately responds to any US effort to engage the mullah-led regime will depend largely on his say.

    Khamenei, whose regime is racing to develop nukes and has threatened to destroy Israel, said there will be no change between the United States and Iran unless Obama puts an end to US hostility toward Iran and brings "real changes" in foreign policy.

    "They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven't seen any change," Khamenei said in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad.