Iran's leader: U.S. wants new opinions

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI -- Associated Press Writer

(Updated Sunday, September 23, 2007, 12:14 PM)

Iran President Ahmadinejad rips U.S.
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the American people are eager for different opinions about the world, and he is looking forward to providing them with "correct and clear information," state media reported.

The hardline Iranian leader left Sunday for New York to address the U.N. General Assembly and speak to students and teachers during a forum at Columbia University.

Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and helping Shiite militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops - claims Iran denies.

Ahmadinejad said his visit will give Americans a chance to hear a different voice, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The United States is a big and important country with a population of 300 million. Due to certain issues, the American people in the past years have been denied correct and clear information about global developments and are eager to hear different opinions," Ahmadinejad was quoted by IRNA as saying.

State-run television also quoted Ahmadinejad before boarding his presidential plane Sunday as saying that the General Assembly was an "important podium" to express Iran's views on regional and global issues.

He is scheduled to address the Assembly on Tuesday - his third time attending the New York meeting in three years. He is also set to speak at a Columbia University question-and-answer forum on Monday in New York.

His request to lay a wreath at ground zero, site of the World Trade Center 2001 terror attacks, was denied by city officials and condemned by politicians. After the Sept. 11 attacks, hundreds of young Iranians held a series of candlelight vigils in Tehran.

Police rejected Ahmadinejad's request, citing construction and security concerns. In an interview to air Sunday on "60 Minutes," Ahmadinejad indicated he would not press the issue but expressed disbelief that the visit would offend Americans.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini also appeared dismayed that the request was rejected.

"What kind of damage will the U.S. face" by Ahmadinejad visiting the site, Hosseini asked at his weekly press conference Sunday.

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger has resisted requests to cancel the event but promised to introduce the talk himself with a series of tough questions on topics including Ahmadinejad's views on the Holocaust, his call for the destruction of the state of Israel and his government's alleged support of terrorism.

Columbia canceled a planned visit by the Iranian president last year, citing security and logistical reasons. Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust "a myth" and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Hosseini said there "are efforts to cancel" the Columbia speech, but the Iranian government is continuing to pursue the program. He did not elaborate other than saying a lot of pressure was being placed on the program's sponsors.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks as Iran's new Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, looks on during large-scale military parades to mark the 27th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Iran that sparked the bloody 1980-88 war, in Tehran, Iran on Saturday Sept. 22, 2007. Threats and economic sanctions will not stop Iran's technological progress, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Saturday at a large parade featuring fighter jets and radar-avoiding missiles designed to show off the country's military might.



Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks as Iran's new Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, looks on during large-scale military parades to mark the 27th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Iran that sparked the bloody 1980-88 war, in Tehran, Iran on Saturday Sept. 22, 2007. Threats and economic sanctions will not stop Iran's technological progress, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Saturday at a large parade featuring fighter jets and radar-avoiding missiles designed to show off the country's military might.

Khaleej Times Online >> News >> MIDDLE EAST

Iran warns West against attack, shows missiles
(Reuters)

22 September 2007


TEHERAN - Iran told Western powers on Saturday that they would regret launching any attack over Teheran’s nuclear activities and it rolled out a display of missiles and other hardware that underscored its warning.

‘Our message to the enemies is: Do not do it,’ the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said, speaking to reporters less than a week after France’s foreign minister publicly raised the prospect of war.

‘They will regret it, as they are regretting it in Iraq,’ Jafari added, speaking on the sidelines of an annual military parade.

The Islamic Republic put on show medium-range missiles it has previously said could reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf at the parade marking the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq conflict.

Iran is embroiled in a deepening standoff with the West over its atomic ambitions, which the United States suspects is aimed at making bombs but which Teheran says is solely for generating electricity.

Washington has said it wants a diplomatic resolution to the dispute but has not ruled out military action if that fails.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner last Sunday raised the spectre of war, but has since backed away from the comment.

Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, has threatened to hit back at regional US interests if attacked.

Jafari’s words of defiance came a day after major powers, meeting in Washington, said they had ‘serious and constructive’ talks about new UN Security Council sanctions aimed at trying to force Iran to halt its sensitive nuclear programme.

The officials of the five permanent Security Council members and Germany said they will keep pursuing a ‘dual track’ approach to Iran—trying to persuade it to abandon such activities via negotiations while considering new sanctions.
‘Death to America’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressing the parade, made clear Teheran would not bow to Western pressure.

‘Those who think, that by using such decayed tools as psychological warfare and economic sanctions, they can stop the Iranian nation’s progress are making a mistake,’ he said.

The Islamic Republic showed among its weaponry a type of missile it has said has a range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles) -- enabling it to hit Israel and US bases in the region.

But the television commentator said Shahab-3 had a range of only 1,300 km (812 miles). Another missile at the parade, Ghadr-1, can reach targets 1,800 km (1,125 miles) away, he said. It was believed to be the first time it has been shown publicly.

Troops, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and armoured personnel carriers passed in front of the podium. One truck carried the words ‘Death to America’.

Western military experts say Iranian forces would be no match for US military technology but that they could still create havoc in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, through which a large volume of the world’s traded oil passes.

Jafari admitted Western powers enjoyed air superiority but suggested Iran would be able to outwit them. Asked how Iran would respond if any country allowed its territory to be used as a base for an attack, he said: ‘You have seen the missiles—just pull the trigger and shoot.’