BERLIN (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. wants a “civil, diplomatic relationship” with Iran, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

President Barack Obama conveyed that message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Clinton said in an interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose which was to be broadcast Tuesday on Bloomberg Television.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated Iran’s peaceful intent at a press conference in Istanbul on Monday night, and accused the U.S., possessor of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and the only country ever to have used atomic weapons, of “double standards” in opposing Iran’s program.
“Three or four countries sit down together and they call themselves ‘the international community’,” he said. “The Americans have thousands of bombs, but it hasn’t helped them in Iraq or Afghanistan. They build nuclear bombs, and then they chant human rights slogans.”
The Obama administration has made clear to Iran that it accepts its right to pursue civilian nuclear energy, and that “we are not going to be demonizing you,” Clinton said, according to a transcript issued before the show went to air on PBS late Monday.
Clinton, who spoke with Rose in Berlin during commemorations for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, urged Iran to cooperate with United Nations inspections of its nuclear program, saying it isn’t in the country’s interest to “be subjected to very onerous sanctions.”
“No one wants” to resort to military means to halt Iran’s nuclear program, Clinton said. “We’ve always said that every option is on the table. Our goal is to prevent or dissuade Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
Contrary to Clinton’s claims the International Atomic Energy Agency is monitoring all the processes of nuclear activities in Iran by installing cameras and making regular inspections; also in its numerous reports the agency has stated that it has not found any single evidence suggesting that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
Obama “has really gone the extra mile to try to engage with the Iranians,” sending “private messages to the Supreme Leader,” she added. “If they cannot overcome their mistrust and their internal political dynamic, then we have to do what we think is in our best interests.”
Ahmadinejad said he had applauded Obama’s election and would welcome signs of change in key U.S. policies under the new administration, adding that he’s been disappointed so far.
“I ask you, what have they changed?” he said. “Is the Guantanamo camp closed? Has U.S. support for Zionism changed? Is there any policy to relieve the Palestinians? Is there any change of policy in Afghanistan, in Iraq?”