Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    TEHRAN, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday proposed having a live television debate with his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush on "world issues".

    Ahmadinejad raised the proposal at a press conference two days before a U.N. Security Council deadline demanding Tehran suspend uranium enrichment.

    He told the reporters that "I suggest holding a live TV debate with Mr. George W. Bush to talk about world affairs and the ways to solve those issues."

    The Iranian president, meanwhile, complained about the U.S. and British role in the world affairs, saying "the U.S. and Britain are the source of many tensions."

    "At the (UN) Security Council, where they have to protect security, they enjoy the veto right. If anybody confronts them, there is no place to take to complaints," said Ahmadinejad.

    However, Ahmadinejad expressed that Tehran still expects a positive outcome of its response to a six-nation nuclear package.

    But he warned that Iran will react in its proper ways if the UN Security Council imposes sanctions on it, saying "we have said everything in our response. I think the time to use the instrument of the Security Council has expired."

    "I see it as unlikely that they want to use it (the Security Council). Using nuclear energy is Iran's right and we want to use it according to international law," said the president.

    The Security Council adopted the resolution late July, urging Tehran to suspend by Aug. 31 all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, or face prospect of sanctions.

    Iran has rejected the resolution as having no legal basis. Enditem

    Related:

              U.S. envoy suggests unilateral action against Iran

    UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton signaled on Monday that the United States may bypass the UN Security Council to take punitive measures against Iran if the council fails to do so.

    "The question of what to do about Iran is certainly not confined to the Security Council," Bolton told reporters at UN headquarters. Full story <<<

                           Iran dismisses U.S. sanction threat


    TEHRAN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham dismissed on Monday a U.S. threat to act independently with allies to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear issue if the UN Security Council failed to do so after an Aug. 31 deadline.

    "Such remarks are an obvious insult to the United Nations Security Council. They are just bullying remarks," Elham told a weekly press conference, adding, "The statements showed that these people are not qualified to be a member of the Security Council." Full story <<<