Carter says US policy will not change after Ahmadinejad's victory

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States urged Iran on Saturday to resolve disputes over its presidential election peacefully, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped the outcome reflected the will of the Iranian people.



The White House said it was monitoring the election closely, including reports of "irregularities," after official results showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected by a huge margin over reformist Mirhossein Mousavi.



"The United States has refrained from commenting on the election in Iran. We obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the Iranian people," Clinton added.



Incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared winner by a landslide in Iran's hotly-presidential vote.



Meanwhile, former US president Jimmy Carter said there would be no change in American policy after the re-election of Ahmadinejad.



Carter said US policy would remain the same "because the same person will be there" in brief remarks after he met Palestinian officials in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.



Carter was president during Iran's 1979 revolution that toppled the US-backed shah and the hostage crisis that followed. "I think this election brought a lot of opposition to his policy in Iran and I am sure he will listen to this opposition and may modify it.", - he said.