TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state TV is reporting that the country’s top leader has welcomed comments by President Barack Obama pushing diplomacy and not war as a solution to Tehran’s nuclear ambition.

The Thursday report quotes Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as praising a recent statement by the U.S. president saying he saw a "window of opportunity" to use diplomacy to resolve the nuclear dispute.

It is one of the rare cases in which Iran’s top leader praised an American leader.

However Khamenei said the West’s sanctions on Iran would fail.

The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.

Obama Tuesday said diplomacy can still resolve the nuclear crisis and accused his Republican critics of "beating the drums of war."