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Gibbs revises own remark on Iran

E-mail|Link|Comments () Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor August 5, 2009 12:24 PM

It's usually White House spokesman Robert Gibbs who has to clarify remarks by administration officials when they veer off message -- like when two top economic advisers suggested over the weekend that President Obama might raise taxes on the middle class to pay for healthcare or cut the deficit.

But today, Gibbs had to clarify some of his own words.

In his daily briefing on Tuesday, he called Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the "elected leader" of that country that is one of the diciest foreign policy challenges for Obama. That description raised eyebrows because opposition leaders in Iran have questioned the fairness of the election, and so have US and other Western observers.

Today, Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One that want to "correct a little bit of what I said yesterday. I denoted that Mr. Ahmadinejad was the elected leader of Iran. I would say it's not for me to pass judgment on. He's been inaugurated, that's a fact. Whether any election was fair, obviously the Iranian people still have questions about that and we'll let them decide that. But I would simply say he's been inaugurated and we know that is simply a fact.

Asked whether he recognized him as Iran's leader, elected fairly or not, Gibbs replied, "It's not for -- it's not for me or for us to denote his legitimacy, except to acknowledge the fact."

Does the White House believe the election was fair, Gibbs was asked.

"That's not for us to pass judgment on," Gibbs replied. "I think that's for the Iranian people to decide, and obviously there are many that still have a lot of questions."

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