White House: US still wants nuclear talks with Iran

The United States does not believe that the post-election uncertainty in Iran will complicate efforts to reach out to Tehran over its nuclear program, the White House said on Friday.

In light of a resolution passed by the House of Representatives condemning the events in Iran, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denied that such overwhelming censure was stronger than the presidential response.

The House passed the Republican-initiated resolution Friday evening, with an overwhelming majority of 405 representatives in favor to one oppposed.

"Obviously, we welcome the resolution," Gibbs told reporters. "The language in the resolution is very consistent with the language the president used. We can quibble on this. I think the president has been very

clear on this."

Asked about the call by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for street protests to end, Gibbs said: "He (Obama) believes that those who wish to have their voices heard should be able to do that without fear of violence."

Gibbs added that the outcome of that country's election is an extraordinary and courageous event that has surprised many, asserting that "I think you're definitely witnessing something extraordinary... I'm not sure that anybody even a week ago or so would have expected to see the courageous images that we're seeing now."

He told reporters he thinks that there "are many people in the leadership" in Iran who might have been merely trying to exercise their political will, saying they want to "trot out the same old foils they've used for years," namely Americans.

"As the president has said, we're not going to be used as political foils and political footballs in a debate that's happening by Iranians in Iran," Gibbs said. He said the administration's view is that Iranian leaders would use fiercer US support for the protesters to paint them as puppets of the Americans.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report