Washington, July 1 (ANI): US officials have said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged President Barack Obama for two days to toughen his language on Iran before he did so, and then was surprised when he condemned Iran’s crackdown on demonstrators last week.

At his June 23 news conference, Obama said he was “appalled and outraged” by Iranian behaviour and strongly condemned the violence against anti-government demonstrators.

Up until then, Obama and other administration officials had taken a softer line, expressing “deep concern” about the situation and calling on Iran to respect the dignity of its own people, The Washington Times reports.

Behind the scenes, the officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing internal deliberations, said Clinton had been advocating the stronger US response, but the president resisted.

When he finally took her advice, the aides said, he did so without informing her first.

This was the first known example of awkwardness between the two former rivals for the Democratic nomination for president since they made up following Obama’s election. (ANI)