Iranian President Ahmadinejad has been speaking out publicly in recent days. He has been critical of the American elections, and reiterating that Iran has no need or wish to build atomic bombs.
In spite of Iran having a reputation of being one of the world’s worst abusers of human rights, the Iranian president addressed a two day conference in Bali to promote democracy. As the meeting commenced, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for mutual respect and diversity, noting that these are the foundations of democracy. Yudhoyono's words included, "We need to encourage greater respect for different values, faiths and religious beliefs. We should not allow irresponsible acts such as the defamation of religion to divide us."
Speaking to the convention, Ahmadinejad addressed a number of issues, "The period and era of using nuclear weapons is over ... Nuclear bombs are not anymore helpful and those who are stockpiling nuclear weapons, politically they are backward, and they are mentally retarded.” “Representatives of any agency, any government can visit the Islamic republic and verify that we are not developing nuclear weapons”. He conveyed the message that, “Americans know that Iran people are not after an atomic bomb; they have no need for an atomic bomb. They have gone on for 7000 years without the need for a bomb. Why would they need an atomic bomb? These bombs are unnecessary!” It appears, as Reuters confirms, that contrary to what was widely reported just days ago, “The hardline conservative president said he was open to talks with Obama on forging peace around the world and called for the dismantling of all US military bases abroad.” The ever verbose Iranian president was critical of the American elections, noting the cost, estimated at $6B, and called the elections “battlegrounds for capitalists.”
Ahmadinejad had avoided these democracy forums for the past five years, but in Bali he called American politicians, "Self-declared forerunners of democracy of the Western world." He derided American democracy as “the rule of a minority over the majority.” Human rights agencies are, as we know, critical of freedom of speech denial in Iran, but Tehran calls that accusation “unfair and biased.”
Article comments
1 - Iranian
He is not for real !
2 - Freedom
Some one should ask him about iranian prisons which is full of political prisoners .
3 - John Lake
Tehran Times Iran, IAEA to hold new talks in December TEHRAN "The UN nuclear agency said on Friday that it will hold a new round of talks with Iran on its nuclear program in mid-December in Tehran, according to Reuters. Friday’s announcement was made days after the reelection of U.S. President Barack Obama, a development analysts say may create a fresh opportunity to press ahead with efforts to find a peaceful end to the decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it hopes the talks in Tehran will produce an agreement that would allow it to resume an investigation into Iran’s nuclear activities."