PRESIDENT Barack Obama intends to press ahead with efforts to open a dialogue with Iran despite an apparent setback yesterday when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme religious leader, dismissed US overtures as a “slogan” offering no real change.

Obama and his aides had already been considering a direct approach to Khamenei as a possible follow-up to the US president's unprecedented video address to the Iranian people, released on Friday.

Khamenei’s initial response was not encouraging, but US officials and European diplomats noted that the Iranian leader did not rule out a future breakthrough. A familiar chant of “Death to America” echoed around a religious shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad as Khamenei complained that Obama had “insulted the Islamic republic of Iran from the first day”.

He added: “If you are right that change has come, where is that change? Make it clear for us what has changed.”

His remarks came as a nuclear powered American submarine, the USS Hartford, collided at sea with an amphibious vessel, the USS New Orleans, off the Straits of Hormuz. Fifteen sailors were slightly injured but the submarine’s atomic propulsion system was undamaged.

The ayatollah’s comments followed a striking attempt by Obama to break the deadlock with Iran. The president marked the beginning of the Persian new year with conciliatory remarks intended to establish a new commitment to diplomacy after years of bellicose exchanges between Tehran and the administration of President George W Bush.

In the video, subtitled in Farsi, Obama pledged to pursue “constructive ties”. He noted the process would “not be advanced by threats”, and referred to Iran as an “Islamic republic”, signalling his readiness to deal with the current religious leadership.

Although western officials agreed that Obama’s remarks represented an important change of tone from the Bush years, Khamenei appeared in no hurry for dialogue.

“Have you released Iranian assets?” the ayatollah asked. “Have you lifted oppressive sanctions? Have you given up mudslinging and making accusations against the great Iranian nation and its officials? Have you given up your unconditional support for the Zionist regime [Israel]?”

Khamenei nonetheless left the door open for future discussion when he added: “You change, our behaviour will change . . . We will watch, and we will judge (the new US administration).”

Obama’s video initiative was described in Washington as the opening shot in a new strategy that eschews confrontation in favour of a more subtle attempt to defuse tension ahead of the Iranian presidential elections this summer - thereby reducing support for radical antiAmerican candidates.

The US president is reportedly considering an end to a long-standing ban on direct contacts between junior diplomats and their Iranian counterparts, in the hope of creating a more productive climate for substantive discussions on issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme, its support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and its influence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The first opportunity for face-to-face discussion may come this week at a Russian-organised regional conference on Afghanistan. Iran has observer status at the conference and Washington is sending a senior state department official.

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