TEHRAN, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Iranian reformist presidential candidate Mehdi
Karroubi said on Tuesday that he would change Iran's executive mode if he is
elected as president.
Karroubi told reporters in a news conference that he would prefer "good
diplomacy" in foreign policy and try to establish "logical, wise and proud"
relationship with other countries.
"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements have caused many problems that
we pay a lot for it," he said, adding that it is needless to provoke the West by
ignoring the Holocaust.
Asked about Iran's disputable nuclear program, Karroubi's political advisor
Gholamhossein Karbaschi said that how to ease the current tensions between Iran
and the West over nuclear issue will be the first task for the new government,
and Iran should take advantage of the positive atmosphere that Barack Obama
administration has created.
Changing Iran's gloomy image in the international society is another
arduous task, the advisor added.
"Obama has ability to make good relationship with people," Karroubi told
Xinhua, "all the people are saying he has made an unparalleled presidential race
in U.S. history."
"The attempts that he (Obama) is doing to change relations with the Islamic
world are very important," he said, adding that he still needs to do more such
as removing sanctions against Iran.
Karroubi also ruled out the possibility of withdrawing from the June 12
election.
Karroubi, who served as parliament speaker from 1989 to 1992and from 2000
to 2004, announced his decision to run for presidency in Iran's upcoming
presidential election in June.
Former president Mohammad Khatami who withdrew his candidacy said on Sunday
that Karroubi and another reformist contender, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, should agree
on a single candidate to run against incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
No political figure from the conservative camp has yet officially announced
their candidacy, but a consultant to Ahmadinejad said in February that the
incumbent president had decided to run in the upcoming presidential election.