By Julie Stahl | CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
| Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad challenged President Bush to an uncensored debate on world issues during a televised press conference on Tuesday. He remained defiant just two days before the United Nations deadline expires for Iran to halt its nuclear enrichment program. "I suggest holding a live TV debate with Mr. George W. Bush to talk about world affairs and the ways to solve those issues," he said. Ahmadinejad criticized the British and U.S. international role in the post-World War II era. "The political situation of World War II has been kept alive by the [super] powers. They have embarked on [an] arms race...in order to safeguard superiority over other nations," the Iranian news agency IRNA quoted him as saying. The Iranian president criticized the decision-making process of the U.N. Security Council and challenged the power of the five permanent Security Council members -- among them the U.S. and Britain. "The U.S. and Britain are using such a privilege as if they were the owners of the world. How many years should they enjoy this privilege?" he asked. | The U.S. is pushing for sanctions against Iran if Tehran refuses to submit to the Security Council's demand to suspend uranium enrichment by the August 31 deadline. Enriched uranium is essential for producing nuclear weapons. Ahmadinejad inaugurated a heavy water production plant several days ago. He said then that his country would not give up what he considers his country's "right" to develop a nuclear program. He argued that did not pose a threat to "anyone, even the Zionist regime, which is the enemy." During his Tuesday press conference, Ahmadinejad said that the establishment of the State of Israel had been based on a "myth." He previously has called the Holocaust a "myth" and suggested that the State of Israel be moved to Europe. In a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month, Ahmadinejad suggested the Allied powers had fabricated the story of the Holocaust to embarrass Germany. The contents of the letter were released this week as Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was visiting Germany. "Is it not a reasonable possibility that some countries that had won the war made up this excuse to constantly embarrass the defeated people...to bar their progress," he wrote. |
