New U.S. pres must follow through on pledges of change: Iranian FM

Barack Obama and John McCain have both talked about the need for change, and that the question is whether the winner of the Nov. 4 election is "brave" enough to implement it, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted by AP as telling reporters while attending an economic forum in Istanbul.

He did not say whether he wants Democrat Obama or Republican McCain to win, but noted that Iran had not seen any foreign policy differences between Democratic and Republican administrations over the past three decades.   �

"We have tried five American presidents over the last 30 years -- democrat and republican -- and we have not seen any difference," he also said, referring to George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Bush’s father George Bush senior, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.

"What’s important is not who gets elected, but what the US is going to do after the vote," AFP quoted him as saying.

Mottaki said this may be the “last chance” for the next American president to bring real changes to U.S. foreign policy.�

"Thirty years ago, 70 percent of the young in the Middle East saw the United States as a role-model -- its food, its culture, its fashion," he said. "(But) today, 80 percent of the population in the region detests the U.S."