Ahmadinejad puts his faith in the 'wise people in US' to avoid conflict

[jefferson_dem]

Ahmadinejad puts his faith in the 'wise people in US' to avoid conflict

· Iranian leader says Bush trying to find scapegoats
· Blair backs claims that arms are going to Iraq

Julian Borger, Robert Tait in Tehran and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday February 13, 2007
The Guardian

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, yesterday shrugged off the threat of a US attack and said accusations that Tehran was arming insurgents in Iraq represented an attempt to find a scapegoat for American "defeats and failures".
The British government, however, backed Washington's claims of covert Iranian arms supplies to insurgents, including sophisticated armour-piercing roadside bombs. A Downing Street spokesman said Tony Blair had been "at the cutting edge of identifying this problem", first raising the alarm over the alleged influx of Iranian weaponry in October 2005.

The row over Iraq has added to growing tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions. A UN deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment is due to pass next Wednesday, amid simmering speculation that the US is contemplating taking military action against Tehran's nuclear programme.
Mr Ahmadinejad brushed aside the threat. In an interview with America's ABC News, he said: "Why should we be afraid? First, the possibility is very low, and we think that there are wise people in the US that would stop such illegal actions. But our position is clear - our nation has made it clear that anyone who wants to attack our country will be severely punished."

The Iranian president said his government and Iran's revolutionary guards were "opposed to any kind of conflict in Iraq", and he dismissed evidence presented by American military officials at the weekend pointing towards a covert revolutionary guard role behind the insurgency and the sectarian violence in Iraq.

"You are showing us some piece of papers and you call them documents," he said. "There should be a court to prove the case. We think that the US is following another policy, trying to hide its defeats and failures, and that's why it is pointing its fingers at others."

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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,2011928,00.html

[Greeby]

1. Certainly he has more faith than I do at this point nt

[Missy M]

2. He certainly has the right idea in saying....

"There should be a court to prove the case".

[rock]

3. The 'wise people in US' are not the ones in charge

[Lilith Velkor]

4. Wow, he really is nuts