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TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahma-dinejad on Wednesday
hit back at George W. Bush after his latest warning against Iran,
saying the US president could not hurt “even one centimeter” of
the country.
Ahmadinejad openly mocked what he
said was Bush’s desire for military action against Tehran amid
increasing tensions over its nuclear drive which Western countries
fear could be used to make a nuclear weapon.
“I tell Bush . . . that your
era has ended and thank God you will not be able to damage even one
centimeter of the holy land of Iran,” Ahmadinejad said in a
televised speech in the city of Shahr-e Kord.
“If the enemy thought they
could break the Iranian nation with pressure they are wrong. The
Iranian nation will wipe the smile off its face,” he added to
chants of “Death to America” from the crowd.
His comments came a day after
Bush and European leaders warned Iran of new sanctions if Tehran
refuses to halt sensitive nuclear activities, a threat Ahmadinejad
has steadfastly rejected for over two years.
“Iran with a nuclear weapon
would be incredibly dangerous for world peace,” Bush said at a
joint press conference after his final US-European Union summit.
“Now’s the time for all of us to work together to stop them.”
As well as advocating tough
diplomatic action, the United States has never ruled out a military
strike against Tehran to end its defiant refusal to suspend the
uranium enrichment work.
Ahmadinejad said Bush wanted to
attack Iran but had been scared off by objections from military
commanders.
“I have precise news that one
of this man’s [Bush’s] wishes . . . is to strike us,” said
Ahmadinejad.
“He argued with US military
commanders to first use missiles and bombs. They told him it is not
possible. Then he said ‘let’s make a sonic boom over an Iranian
city’ . . . but this also could not happen.”
Using typically earthy rhetoric,
Ahmadinejad said that Bush was still “itching to pinch and punch
the Iranian nation.”
Iran vehemently rejects Western
allegations that it is seeking nuclear weapons, saying its only
wants electricity for a growing population whose fossil fuels will
eventually run out.
--AFP
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