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MARCO WERMAN: In that interview with the BBC, Mr. Obama addressed a range of subjects. Here, he tells Justin Webb how his administration intends to deal with Iran.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: It is in the world's interests for Iran to set aside ambitions for a nuclear weapon, but the best way to accomplish is through tough, direct diplomacy. Now, and what I was very clear about was that although I don't want to put artificial time tables on that process, we do want to make sure that by the end of this year, we've actually seen a serious process move forward, and I think that we can measure whether or not the Iranians are serious. You know, my personal view is that the Islamic State of Iran has the potential to be an extraordinarily powerful and prosperous country. They are more likely to achieve that in the absence of nuclear weapons that could trigger a nuclear arms race in the region, not just responses from Israel, by the way, but potentially other states in the region. And that if what's preventing them from seeing that reality is 30 years of logger heads between Iran and the United States, then this may be an opportunity for us to open the door and see if they walk through. Now, there's no guarantees that they'll respond in a constructive way. That's part of what we need to test.

JUSTIN WEBB: A couple former members of the National Security Council actually suggested you should go further, and that Iran should be regarded in the same way as Japan. In other words, nuclear reprocessing should be accepted and monitored by the International Community. Is that remotely possible?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I think that the key right now is to initiate a process that is meaningful, that is rigorous between not only the United States and Iran bilaterally, but also continuing with the five plus one discussions in a way that's constructive. Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the International Community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region.
Now ...

WEBB: Well, could Iran have the right to process its energy ...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Now, one point that I want to make is that in my speech in Prague, I talked about how we need to reinvigorate a much broader agenda for nuclear nonproliferation, including the United States and Russia drawing down our stock piles in very significant ways. To the extent that Iran feels that they are treated differently than everybody else, that makes them embattled. To the extent that we're having a broader conversation about how all countries have an interest in containing and reducing over time the nuclear proliferation throughout, that I think has to be part and parcel of our broader agenda.

WEBB: You're making the speech in Cairo. Amnesty International says there are thousand of political prisoners in Egypt. How do you address that issue?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, look, obviously in the Middle East across a wide range of types of governments, there are some human rights issues. I don't think there's any dispute about that. The message I hope to deliver is that democracy rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, those are not simply principles of the West to be hoisted on these countries, but rather what I believe to be universal principles that they can embrace and affirm as part of their national identity. Now, the danger, I think, is when the United States or any country thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and different culture.

WEBB: But you can encourage it.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Our job ... Absolutely, you can encourage and I expect we will be encouraging, and I think the thing that we can do most importantly is serve as a good role model and that's why, for example, closing Guantanamo from my perspective, as difficult as it is, is important because part of what we want to affirm to the world is that these are values that are important even when it's hard, maybe especially when it's hard, and not just when it's easy.

WEBB: Do you regard President Mubarak as an authoritarian ruler?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I tend not to use labels for folks. I haven't met him. I've spoken to him on the phone. He has been a stalwart ally in many respects to the United States. He has sustained peace with Israel, which is a very difficult thing to do in that region, but he has never resorted to, you know, unnecessary demagoguing of the issue and has tried to maintain that relationship. So I think he has been a force for stability and good in the region. Obviously, there have been criticisms of the manner in which politics operates in Egypt and, as I said before, the United States' job is not to lecture but to encourage, to lift up what we consider to be the values that ultimately will work not just for our country but for the aspirations of a lot of people.

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