March 21 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said President Barack Obama’s video message yesterday didn’t show that the U.S. has modified its “hostile” attitude toward his nation.

The U.S. has shown no sign of “genuine” change in its “hostile” policy the Islamic Republic, Khamenei, 69, said in a speech to mark the Iranian New Year, according to state-run Press TV.

Obama yesterday urged Iran to opt for peace over “terror or arms” and to develop diplomatic ties with the world, in what his administration billed as an unconventional attempt to get the attention of Iranians and their leaders.

The U.S. and Iran are entangled in a dispute over the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear program, which the U.S. contends is a cover for developing weapons. Iran denies that the program has military aims, saying it’s trying to produce electricity.

The U.S. has “insulted” Iran numerous times and threatened the country with military strikes that won’t “intimidate” the Islamic nation, Khamenei said, according to Press TV’s Web site.

“Iran must be engaged as a constructive part of the solution, not as part of the problem,” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said today at a German Marshall Fund conference in Brussels. Obama’s message “is an example how people should be self-critical, including people at the very top,” he said.

The U.S. ended diplomatic relations with Iran almost three decades ago after Iranian militants held 52 Americans hostage in Tehran for 444 days.

Iraq War Influence

“Russia and the Europeans, Russia and America together, we have to really face the problem of Iran in a coordinated fashion,” European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said at the conference in Brussels today.

Obama, who said during the 2008 presidential campaigned that he would seek engagement with U.S. foes, said the effort to re-establish relations won’t be achieved through threats.

“We have serious differences that have grown over time,” Obama told Iran’s leaders in a video message released by his administration yesterday. “My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community.”

Ahmadinejad

Iran has affected U.S. strategy in Iraq. The American military accuses Iran of arming militants in Iraq, which has been struggling to overcome sectarian and insurgent violence following the U.S.-led invasion of the country to oust President Saddam Hussein in 2003. U.S. fighter jets shot down an Iranian drone aircraft flying over Iraq on Feb. 25, the Defense Department said.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last month that his country is waiting for the U.S. to show “signs of real change” under the Obama administration, calling it “a necessity” for improving relations between the two countries.

Ahmadinejad has criticized the U.S. for “imperialistic” policies and for seeking to destabilize Iran’s cleric-led regime. He has said his government is ready for negotiations based “on mutual respect.”

“We welcome the overcoming of the problems between the two nations, the solving of issues that run deep,” Ali Akbar Javanfekr, media adviser to Ahmadinejad, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “The good intention should be put into action, otherwise differences will remain as fire under the ashes.”

Javanfekr said Obama must lift the sanctions imposed on Iran for pursuing its nuclear program, and admit past mistakes, such as support for Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime during the 1980-88 war with Iran, the 1988 downing of an Iranian airliner by the U.S. Navy in the Strait of Hormuz and support for a 1953 coup d’etat in Tehran to ensure oil supplies to the West.

“There is a need for more than talks,” Javanfekr said. “Obama needs to show that he believes what he is saying.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Camilla Hall in Dubai at chall24@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 21, 2009 09:04 EDT