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Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep interviews President Obama in the Oval Office. Kainaz Amaria/NPR hide caption

Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep interviews President Obama in the Oval Office.

Update at 5:10 p.m. ET

President Obama's remarks on Iran in an interview with NPR are being labeled "one of the most conciliatory" ever on the Islamic republic by a modern U.S. president, and excoriated as "naive."

Here is some of what Obama told Steve Inskeep, host of Morning Edition, about Iran.

On the possibility of reopening the U.S. Embassy in Tehran: "I never say never, but I think these things have to go in steps."

On Iran's nuclear program: "[I]f you look at the negotiations as they've proceeded, what we've said to the Iranians is that we are willing to recognize your ability to develop a modest nuclear power program for your energy needs. ... They have legitimate defense concerns, but those have to be separated out from the adventurism, the support of organizations like Hezbollah, the threats they've directed towards Israel."

On Iran's possible future: "They have a path to break through that isolation and they should seize it. Because if they do, there's incredible talent and resources and sophistication ... inside of Iran, and it would be a very successful regional power that was also abiding by international norms and international rules, and that would be good for everybody."

NPR's Peter Kenyon tells us that last comment by the president appears to boost optimism, but "for now it all remains a matter of atmospherics."

(You can read the full interview here and watch clips here.)

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Obama's Iran Remarks Labeled Conciliatory, Naive