Emile Nakhleh, former head of Political Islam Department at the CIA, also said he is optimistic that Obama would bridge the gap between the United States and the Muslim world—a gap, he believed, was created by the failed policies of the Bush administration.

“Obama at the beginning proved that he wanted to reach out to Iran and focus on common grounds despite the differences over the nuclear program,” Nakhleh told IRNA.

He said there are many areas about which Iran and the US can talk and work together.

“For instance in issues such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Iran can greatly help the United States.”

Referring to the potentials of cooperation between Iran and the United States, Nakhleh said the Obama administration is “recognising the fact that Iran is a major regional player.”

The former CIA official added that both Iran and the US need to go forward should “they want to go on the path of engagement”.

Asked about the failure of Obama to fulfil his commitments with regards to peace in the Middle East and the Guantanamo Prison issue, Nakhleh said the new US administration should be given more time to fulfil its promises.

“He has been in office for only 10 months. As a former CIA official, I am certain that this period is not enough for resolving such big problems as the Israeli-Palestinian issue.”

Nakhleh, who was in London to make a speech on “Changing the Conversation between America and the Muslim World”, further expressed optimism about the changing rhetoric of the United States towards Iran.

“I know because of the raised expectations of Obama, both Americans and others want instant results. There are areas of disagreement, of course, between Iran and the US but unlike previously, Obama does not use bellicose rhetoric and does not threaten Iran with military action.”

Nakhleh, who has been offered to become the US envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, said Obama has set the “right attitude" in his relations with the Muslim word including Iran.

“You definitely need to take more steps but Obama has already taken the first step. The next step is to deal with specific issues of engagement.”

Referring to the speech Obama made for Muslims in June, Nakhleh with a Palestinian origin, said the Cairo speech “set the stage for the specific areas which we need to deal with, including the empowerment of Muslim communities from below.”

“Compared to previous administration, Obama has created a new atmosphere towards relations between the US and Muslim world. Obama has clearly distinguished between the minorities who support Islamic extremism and violence and the vast majority of Muslims who want to live descent lives.”

The former CIA director of Political Islam said Obama believes that America is not at war with Islam.

“We cannot have serious results within a year. Obama’s election as president raised global expectations but it takes time to materialise those expectations. The challenge is now is to produce results.”

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