Hillary Rodham Clinton said she "would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions," when being asked about Iran nuclear issue Thursday by a voter, media reported Friday.
In July, Clinton called fellow Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama "naive" when he said he would meet with the leaders of Iran without precondition.
But her comments Thursday prompted Obama's campaign to question whether she had changed her mind.
During a Democratic presidential debate in July, Obama said that he would be willing to meet without precondition in the first year of his presidency with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and DPRK.
And Clinton, standing with him on stage, said she would first send envoys to test the waters and called Obama's position irresponsible and naive.
However, when being asked about it Thursday by a voter, the New York senator said twice that she, too, would negotiate with Iran "with no conditions."
"I would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions, because we don't really understand how Iran works. We think we do, from the outside, but I think that is misleading," she said.
Obama's campaign wondered if Clinton had changed her mind. "Barack Obama will restore our place in the world by basing foreign policy decisions on consistent principles and not political calculation. That's a change we need and change we can believe in," said Leslie Miller, Obama's New Hampshire spokeswoman.
Howard Wolfson, Clinton campaign spokesman, later sought to clarify her comments, saying that while she believes in diplomatic engagement with Iran, "she does not agree with Senator Obama ...that the United States president should precommit to meeting directly with Mr. Ahmadinejad," the Iranian president.
Source:Xinhua/agencies
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