TEHRAN, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad invited U.S. President Barack Obama for a debate in the United
Nations.
"Our proposal (to President Obama) is to sit at the
UN and debate about the origin of the global problems and each side put forward
its solutions," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference here on Monday.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holds a press
conference at the presidential palace in Teheran May 25, 2009. Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said on Monday that talks over its nuclear issue should be held in
the framework of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). (Xinhua/Liang
Youchang) Photo
Gallery>>>
"If I am elected by the great Iranian nation (as
president in the upcoming presidential elections), I will repeat my invitation
to Mr. Obama to have a debate in the UN to study the origin of the global issues
and the management of the world for international peace," he stressed.
Earlier, Ahmadinejad had invited U.S. ex-president
George W. Bush to participate in a live debate with him in the United Nations
over global diversified issues, but Bush did not give response to his
invitation.
Ahmadinejad told reporters that
his congratulation to Obama upon his victory in the U.S. presidential elections
was a "great gesture" to him.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
speaks at a press conference at the presidential palace in Teheran May 25,
2009. (Xinhua/Liang Youchang) Photo Gallery>>>
Iran is waiting for U.S. changes not in words but in
practice, Ahmadinejad said, thanking Obama for his willingness to enter direct
talks with Iranians.
The United States and other Western countries have
reached a consensus on inviting Iran to direct talks over Iran's sensitive
nuclear program.
Iran, however, insisted that its nuclear program is
only for peaceful purposes, and the debates over this issue is already over.
Iran has vowed to continue its uranium enrichment activities and its potential
talks with the West would be on management of the world instead of the nuclear
issue.
TEHRAN, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said on Monday that talks over its nuclear issue should be held in
the framework of IAEA.
"We have announced that ... (Iran's) nuclear issue is
already over. Our opinion is that the nuclear program (of Iran) will be only in
the framework of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)and the talks outside
IAEA will only be about the participation in the management of the globe and
about peace in the world," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference held here on
Monday.
"We won't allow anyone outside the conventions and
framework (of IAEA) to talk about Iran's rightful nuclear issue," he
added. Full story
TEHRAN, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad on Saturday defended his much-criticized foreign and economic
policies as campaigns were heating up for the June 12 presidential election.
"The Iranian government has realized great objectives
in its foreign policy," the English-language channel Press TV quoted Ahmadinejad
as saying at a press conference for Iranian media. Full story
TEHRAN, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Iranian presidential hopeful
Mehdi Karroubi said on Monday that Iran expects change in practice from the
United States, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"The United States before and after Iran's Islamic
Revolution (1979) has done wrong to the Iranians," Karroubi said, adding that
"but the literature of Obama is different from that of (George W.) Bush. We
regard it positive and Iran expects change in practice from the United
States." Full story
TEHRAN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's presidential candidate
and former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei said Sunday that he will
present a "mutual changes package" to the United States if he wins the June 12
presidential election.
"In this package, Iran will ask U.S. officials what
steps they plan to take and tell them what steps Iran plans to take," Rezaei was
quoted by local Mehr News Agency as saying.
"The administration should implement the leader's
policies in this respect, and so we will offer the U.S. a package of mutual
changes," Rezaei told a press conference at the offices of the Tehran Times and
the Mehr News Agency. Full story
WASHINGTON, May 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton on Wednesday reiterated American calls for Iran to give up its
nuclear ambition for the sake of its own security.
Addressing a Senate subcommittee overseeing State
Department funding, Clinton said that "our goal is to persuade the Iranian
regime that they will actually be less secure if they proceed with their
nuclear-weapons program." Full story
