WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he doesn’t take seriously the demand from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for an apology.

The Iranian leader made that demand while accusing Obama of meddling in Iranian affairs by speaking in support of the demonstrators challenging the results of Iran’s election.

Obama says the United States has, in fact, “gone out of its way” not to interfere with Iran’s election process.

Obama also told reporters Friday that Iranian reform leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has “captured the imagination or spirit” of those within Iran who are “interested in opening up.”

He said Mousavi has become a representative of the people who’ve been demonstrating in the streets of Tehran, and who’ve been showing what Obama calls “extraordinary bravery.”