Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad reacted to U.S.President Barack Obama’s Norouz message during a speech in Sirjan on April 3:
"We expected Mr. Obama to change his rhetoric, but some people say that he is under Zionist pressure."
"They [the United States] say: 'we have extended our hands to the people of Iran but the government of Iran and the people of Iran pushed it back'. What hand did you extend to us? What changed? Were your sanctions lifted? Was the adverse propaganda stopped? Was the pressure alleviated? Did you change your attitude in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine?"
And, in the same speech: "We expected Mr. Obama to change his rhetoric, but some people say that he is under Zionist pressure."
-- Golnaz Esfandiari
