Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls looking for endorsements can cross one potential backer off their list: Iran.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini earlier this week announced that Iran's leaders will not support any U.S. candidate running for president, according to a report posted on IRNA, the country's official news agency.
Hosseini added that Iran hoped the presidential elections "would bring about serious changes in the incorrect approach of the present administration."
Meanwhile, London Mayor Ken Livingstone probably can cross Iran off his list of political supporters, too, after telling a gathering of Jewish community leaders that the idea of a society run by ayatollahs is "horrifying" and "completely wrong."
He then called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "barking mad."
Asked if he thought Iran was a threat and if he would condemn the Iranian regime, Livingstone mockingly said: "I notice I didn't get any praise from the Jewish community when I said I'd like to see the Saudi royal family swinging from the lampposts — which I thought was a reasoned intervention into Middle Eastern affairs," according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
"The idea of a society run by ayatollahs is horrifying to me and completely wrong," he said. "The [Iranian] president is barking mad... Iran is a threat, but we must encourage progressive forces in the country to elect a better government."
Click here to read more on Livingstone in the Jerusalem Post.
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