Ahmadinejad says Iran, U.S. not headed for war: CBS

[Marcus Marulus]

Ahmadinejad says Iran, U.S. not headed for war: CBS

Sun Sep 23



NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran did not need nuclear weapons and his country was not heading for war with the United States, according to a television interview to be broadcast Sunday.

Asked whether Iran's goal was to obtain a nuclear bomb, he said the answer was a "firm no," according to a transcript of his interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" recorded on Thursday in Tehran.

"You have to appreciate we don't need a nuclear bomb. We don't need that. What need do we have for a bomb?" he said.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civil nuclear program. Iran denies both allegations.
Asked whether Iran and the United States were heading toward conflict over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, he said: "It's wrong to think that Iran and the U.S. are walking toward war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing."

Officials of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany met on Friday for what they called "serious and constructive" talks about new U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at trying to force Iran to halt its uranium enrichment activities.

Ahmadinejad, who was due to arrive in New York on Sunday for the U.N. General Assembly, reiterated Iran's position that its nuclear program is purely peaceful.

"Our plan and program is very transparent," he said. "In political relations right now, the nuclear bomb is of no use. If it was useful, it would have prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union. If it was useful, it would resolved the problem the Americans have in Iraq.

"The time of the bomb is passed."

[source]

[Almost a Christian]

I think Ahmadinejad here is trying to compensate for the deluge of anti-Iranian rhetoric from the media which always begins with explicit presumption that Iran is in the wrong invoking the term "defying" and other 'bad school boy' soundbytes. Naturally Ahmadinejad's not unnatural attempt to present himself as the injured party won't be a drop in the water and the popular illusion that Iran is the offending party will - in essence - remain in tact..