video transcript

(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION) Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed thousands of flag-waving supporters in Tehran on Sunday (February 10), as part of events commemorating the 34th anniversary of the country's Islamic Revolution. State television showed large crowds gathering in various locations around the country. Ahmadinejad told the crowds that Tehran would not negotiate about its disputed nuclear programme under pressure, but would talk to its adversaries if they stopped "pointing the gun". He struck a more conciliatory tone than Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who on Thursday (February 7) rebuffed a U.S. call for direct negotiations on disputes between the two countries. Ahmadinejad does not have the authority to authorise negotiations over the nuclear programme, which lies with Khamenei. Thursday saw the beginning of ten days of events planned to mark the 1979 revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah.