WASHINGTON — Under pressure to speak out more forcefully, President Obama on Tuesday condemned the Iranian government's violent suppression of dissent and declared the world "appalled and outraged" by its crackdown on protesters.
Despite employing his toughest language yet to criticize Iranian authorities, Obama refused to threaten any consequences and stopped short of freezing a major foreign policy goal: wooing Iran into diplomatic contacts over its nuclear program, its support of Islamic militant organizations and other contentious issues.
"We don't yet know how this is going to play out," he said.
Obama's comments drew a clear distinction between the actions of police and militiamen on the streets of Tehran and other cities and the conduct of Iran's June 12 election -- even though protesters argue that the same hard-line faction is responsible for stealing the election and launching the crackdown.
The president has been carefully calibrating his words since the Iranian election, in which incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was named the winner despite charges of fraud by his main challenger, moderate former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
U.S. officials are well aware that because of decades of animosity between the two nations, coming out strongly in favor of one side could harm those they are trying to help.
But Obama spoke bluntly Tuesday about free speech and human rights, denouncing the beatings and jailings of protesters. He singled out as "heartbreaking" the shooting of a young Iranian woman that was captured on a cellphone camera and beamed around the world via the Internet.
He was careful, however, to avoid taking sides on the question of who won the election.
Obama said that as president he has the responsibility of advancing U.S. national security interests and wants to pursue talks with Iran, if its rulers "choose that path."
The streets of Tehran were quiet Tuesday after a week of nearly daily protests over the election results. The Islamic Republic's Guardian Council, which is looking into charges of electoral fraud, said it needed more time to review them. It said earlier in the day that it had found no evidence of major irregularities.
Republicans, as well as some Democrats, have pressed Obama to take a stronger stand as the Iranian government intensified efforts to halt the protests.
