Iran tells Obama to "walk his talk"

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a clarion call for change in the US as Washington resumes tough rhetoric against Tehran.

US President Barack Obama sent a double-edged message to Tehran on Sunday, vowing to engage Iranian leaders in the coming months, while taking a swipe at the country's uranium enrichment program.

President Ahmadinejad welcomed Washington's diplomatic overtures on Monday, but urged Obama to take concrete steps to back up his words and promises.

"Actions speak louder than words," said President Ahmadinejad. "We have yet to see Obama bring any fundamental changes to Washington."

According to Ahmadinejad who was speaking in Kazakhstan during an official visit, a change in tone does not amount to a change in US policies.

During his eight-day maiden tour around Europe, Obama laid out a new vision of US foreign policy, promising to rewrite Washington's diplomatic strategies.

Ahmadinejad added Tehran would reconsider ties with Washington once the US officialdom sets the record straight.

"The US government multilaterally cut off ties with Iran 28 years ago and stood by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988)," said Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad said that the US government had strived to block Iran's path to success in the past three decades, inadvertently helping the country learn how to make scientific progress without the help of Western countries.

Washington broke off relations with Tehran in 1980 after Iranian students, discontent with years of US interference in the country's politics, took control of the US embassy in Tehran.