"AMERICAN EMPIRE" IS NEARING COLLAPSE, AHMADINEJAD SAYS
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.09.2008 15:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran’s president addressed the U.N. General Assembly
Tuesday declaring that "the American empire" is nearing collapse and
should end its military involvement in other countries.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said terrorism is spreading quickly in Afghanistan
while "the occupiers" are still in Iraq nearly six years after Saddam
Hussein was ousted from power in Iraq.
"American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and
its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders,"
Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad’s hardline rhetoric came as no surprise and offered
little in the way of compromise at the U.N., where he faces a new
round of sanctions if no agreement is reached on limiting Iran’s
nuclear capabilities.
While he reiterated that the country’s nuclear program is purely
peaceful, the U.S. and others fear it is aimed at producing enriched
uranium to make nuclear weapons
"A few bullying powers have sought to put hurdles in the way of
the peaceful nuclear activities of the Iranian nation by exerting
political and economic pressures against Iran," he said.
Ahmadinejad also lashed out at Israel on Tuesday, saying "the Zionist
regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for
it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters."
The Iranian president is feared and reviled in Israel because of
his repeated calls to wipe the Jewish state off the map, and his
aggressive pursuit of nuclear technology has only fueled Israel’s
fears. Ahmadinejad accused "a small but deceitful number of people
called Zionists … (of) dominating an important portion of the
financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making
centers of some European countries and the U.S."
Israeli President Shimon Peres reacted angrily to Ahjmadinejad’s
criticism. "It is again a repetition of the darkest accusations in the
name of Hitler and almost anti-Semitism," Peres later told journalists.
In discussing the U.S. war in Iraq, Ahmadinejad said, "Millions have
been killed or displaced, and the occupiers, without a sense of shame,
are still seeking to solidify their position in the … region and
to dominate oil resources."
He suggested that the presence of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan
has contributed to a sharp rise in terrorism and a huge increase in
the production of narcotics. He predicted that the alliance would
not be successful.
"Throughout history every force that has entered Afghanistan has left
in defeat," Ahmadinejad said.
His speech came just hours after President Bush made his eighth
and final appearance before the U.N. General Assembly, urging the
international community to stand firm against the nuclear ambitions
of Iran and North Korea.
"A few nations, regimes like Syria and Iran, continue to sponsor
terror," Bush said. "Yet their numbers are growing fewer, and they’re
growing more isolated from the world. As the 21st century unfolds,
some may be tempted to assume that the threat has receded. This would
be comforting. It would be wrong."
At one point during Bush’s 22-minute speech, Ahmadinejad turned to
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and gave a thumb’s down.
As in past years, the United States only had a low-level note-taker
present for the Iranian president’s address, said Richard Grenell,
spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The U.S. and
Iran do not have diplomatic relations.
During interviews ahead of his speech Tuesday, Ahmadinejad blamed
U.S. military interventions around the world in part for the collapse
of global financial markets, FOXNews reports.
"The U.S. government has made a series of mistakes in the past
few decades," Ahmadinejad said an interview with the Los Angeles
Times. "The imposition on the U.S. economy of the years of heavy
military engagement and involvement around the world … the war in
Iraq, for example. These are heavy costs imposed on the U.S. economy.
"The world economy can no longer tolerate the budgetary deficit and
the financial pressures occurring from markets here in the United
States, and by the U.S. government," he added.
He accused the U.S. of starting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to win
votes in elections and blamed a "few bullying powers" for trying to
undermine Iran’s nuclear program. He also accused the U.S. and NATO
is mongering war in South Ossetia.