TEHRAN - People in Tehran voiced scepticism about a possible thaw in ties between Tehran and Washington.
The ultra-conservative Kayhan daily dubbed Barack Obama as "a big fan of Zionists," below a cartoon that showed outgoing US President George W. Bush handing the Israeli flag to the new Democratic US leader.
The conservative Hamshahri ran a sarcastic headline: "The change advocate, who changed," noting what it described as Obama's "recent change of tone" to support war policies of the previous Republican administration.
Obama has vowed diplomatic engagement with Iran but Hillary Clinton, his choice for secretary of state, has repeated the Bush's administration stance of "not taking any option off the table" -- which includes military action -- in support for Israel.
Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since 1979 Iranian revolution, which toppled the ruthless US-backed dictator, the shah.
Tehran never forgave Washington for supporting the shah, and angry Iranian students took American diplomats hostage for 444 days following the revolution.
Tehran university students belonging took an openly hostile tone towards the new US administration.
"They stopped threatening us with military attack, but they increase economic sanctions against us and continue to be hostile toward us," said a young philosophy student, Abdollah Bani Hassani.
A fellow student, Behrouz Khan Mohammadi, called Obama "a puppet."
"The US policy does not depend on one person. It is the Israelis who decide the policy."
A female Islamist student, Rayhaneh, criticised Obama for being "only a slogan chanter."
"He would possibly start a dialogue but it will have no result because what Iran wants is 180 degrees different from what the United States wants," she said.
Iranians on the street were also pessimistic about the chance of a change in relations between the two governments.
"As long as Iran takes the same anti-Israeli position, there will be no change," a 21-year-old man, Ali Reza Hedayati, asserted.
"Like his predecessor, Obama wants Iran to suspend uranium enrichment," he added.
Bush's outgoing administration refused to engage in direct negotiations with Iran unless it first stopped enriching uranium, material which Washington fears could be used to build an atomic bomb.
Tehran, facing pressure and economic sanctions spearheaded by Washington, says its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei had recently suggested that nuclear weapons states bore some blame for other countries seeking such arms, because they are modernizing arsenals rather than scrapping them.
The US, France and Britain are three nuclear weapons states that have ratified the Nonproliferation Treaty.
"How can I go with a straight face to the non-nuclear-weapon states and tell them nuclear weapons are no good for you, while the weapon states continue to modernize and to say 'we absolutely need nuclear weapons,'" ElBaradei said.
Iran insists it has the right to develop nuclear technology, which it says is aimed at generating energy for its growing population.
Israel is the only country in the Middle Ease that actually has nuclear weapons.
Observers say due the strong Jewish and pro-Israel lobbies in the US and some European countries, these countries have taken a hypocritical stance in relation to nuclear issues in the region.
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