TEHERAN, Iran - Iran's hardline president said Monday he would welcome direct talks with the US if both parties are on equal footing, adding such talks could happen ‘in the near future.’President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not say whether any definite plans for such bilateral talks were under way. ‘We will hold talks with the United States if they come to us on equal footing,’ Ahmadinejad said in a live speech on state TV.
| I think he wants us to grovel ... |
‘Equal footing means that when two people want to talk, both have to be on equal terms. Dialogue doesn't make any sense if one side stands in a higher position and the other in a lower position,’ Ahmadinejad said.
| And who would know more about standing in a lower position than Short Round ... |
The father of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, likened any relationship between Washington and Teheran as that of a ‘wolf and sheep.’ But Iran's current top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who repeatedly rejected such talks in the past - has softened his tone in recent months. In January, Khamenei said Iran's relationship with the United States might not be severed forever. He said he would be the first to support resuming diplomatic ties with Washington, but that doing so now would be ‘harmful’ to Iran's interests.