NEW YORK – President Obama will sit down for an interview with BBC Persian Friday morning to address the people of Iran, the White House said Thursday.
“This is an opportunity for him to speak directly to an Iranian audience,” Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told reporters at a briefing in New York.
Obama will reiterate a message he had for Iran since taking office, Rhodes said: That the United States seeks a better relationship with Iranians, but that is only possible if Tehran takes certain steps on its nuclear program.
“Thus far they have repeatedly refused to do so,” Rhodes said.
Obama’s interview will come on his last day in New York, where he has been since Wednesday for the United Nations General Assembly.
