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Iran at 'front and center' of Obama trip

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-03 14:21

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will focus on Iran's issues during his visit to Russia and the G8 summit in Italy next week, a senior US official said here Wednesday.

"The issue of Iran will be front and center at each of these stops," Denis McDonough, one of Obama's top foreign policy aides, told reporters.

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Also on Wednesday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev exchanged views on the forthcoming Russian tour and the G8 summit in Italy.

During his stay in Moscow, Obama is expected to discuss with Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putinon, among others, a new pact to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (SALT) which expires this December.

On June 13, Iran declared the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner in the presidential elections.

After the official announcement, Ahmadinejad's main rivals, including former Iranian prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, filed complaints over irregularities in the election, even demanding annulment of the election.

Supporters of Mousavi have been protesting against the election result for days. Some protesters, who rejected the election as fraudulent, clashed with anti-riot police in Tehran. Obama strongly condemned the Iranian government's crackdown on its people.