Obama calls for 'basic freedom' in Iran

US President Barack Obama, in a holiday message on Tuesday to the Iranian people, said that the two nations despite their tensions share a "common humanity," as he pressed for greater freedom for those living in Iran.

"There is no reason for the United States and Iran to be divided from one another," Obama said in a statement to Iranians on Nowruz, the Persian New Year, adding that "the Iranian people are denied the basic freedom to access the information that they want."