ID :
199425
Sat, 08/06/2011 - 09:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/199425
The shortlink copeid
Iran's Ahmadinejad advises Europe not to be influenced by U.S.
TEHRAN, Aug. 6 (MNA) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has advised the European countries to not be influenced by the United States.
Ahmadinejad made the remarks during an interview with euronews broadcast live on the Iranian television on Thursday night.
Asked about the prospect of relations between Iran and the European Union, Ahmadinejad said, “I believe that the relationship between Iran and Europe should not be affected by the American. In the Second World War, damage was incurred on the European people. They paid the price for the damages of the Second World War, but the Americans made profit out of the war. We are neighbors of Europe. We want to have friendly ties with Europe.”
“We can have very good economic ties. We can also have very good political ties,” he added.
Prospect of Tehran-Washington ties
Asked if he is prepared to extend the same hand of friendship in the near future to the United States any time soon, Ahmadinejad said, “We believe that there should be friendly relationships at the international level and that’s the basic principle. But the Americans and their administration are confused. They don’t know what to do. They don’t follow clear policies. They stopped their relationship with us. The Americans thought that if they stopped their relationship with Iran we would be destroyed. 31 years have passed since then and we’re still sitting here. The Iranian nation is making progress. We believe that the American government should change its policies.”
The euronews reporter also asked him to comment on the gap growing between him and the parliament as well as between him and the Supreme Leader.
Ahmadinejad said, “I think in a free society such things happen. There should always be discussions between parliament and the government. Is it bad to have a free government and a free parliament? The position of the Leader is also clear in Iran. There are no differences. We’re a free society in which everyone can express his or her views. There’s no problem. Do you realize that the parliament voted for four new ministers today? And they were all voted for by high numbers, so there is freedom in this country.”
Nobody is in prison in Iran just for expressing views
The president was also asked to comment on the political unrest that occurred after the presidential election of June 2009.
He said, “According to our laws there are legal ways to express objection and there are legal authorities that see to complaints in the course of elections. We see that there are demonstrations in Europe as well, and we see that the police act very harshly. Do you think that there will be changes in Europe? Are people in Europe happy with their governments? Are they able to change their governments?”
Ahmadinejad went to say “are people allowed to write the truth and the realities of the Second World War? Or can they take any measures against the prevalent systems? I’m sure they can’t, but in Iran people express their objections through legal channels and their complaints are seen to. However some scientists are now in prison for expressing their historical views.”
Asked if there is freedom for Mirhossain Moussavi and Mehdi Karoubi who are under house arrest, Ahmadinejad said, “There are prisons everywhere. There are problems with the judiciary. The judiciary in Iran is independent. I don’t have the right to interfere in what judges decide. There are certain laws according to which people can interact with the judiciary. If you’re asking my personal view, I wish and I hope that there will be not even one single prisoner in the world, in all parts of the world, in Abu Ghraib, in all hidden prisons in Europe.”
He added, “Nobody is in prison just for expressing their views.”
Iran’s nuclear program
Asked about Iran’s nuclear activities and its decision to triple that production of uranium at 20 percent, the president stated, “The production of uranium at 20 percent is just for peaceful purposes. This is for a reactor that produces active radio drops. It just produces drops. The 20 percent is not good for anything else, it’s only good for drugs and agricultural purposes. The countries that are capable of enriching uranium can produce uranium at any percentage. This is the capability that we have. At the same time, we’re among the limited number of countries whose activities are under the control of the IAEA cameras.”
Syria unrest
In reply to a question whether or not Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is handling the situation in the country well, Ahmadinejad said, “Many of the problems that we witness today and we are used to witnessing in the past have been due to the interference of others. If there are problems in certain places, then we should try to seek the roots in past intervention in past interferences.”
Ahmadinejad made the remarks during an interview with euronews broadcast live on the Iranian television on Thursday night.
Asked about the prospect of relations between Iran and the European Union, Ahmadinejad said, “I believe that the relationship between Iran and Europe should not be affected by the American. In the Second World War, damage was incurred on the European people. They paid the price for the damages of the Second World War, but the Americans made profit out of the war. We are neighbors of Europe. We want to have friendly ties with Europe.”
“We can have very good economic ties. We can also have very good political ties,” he added.
Prospect of Tehran-Washington ties
Asked if he is prepared to extend the same hand of friendship in the near future to the United States any time soon, Ahmadinejad said, “We believe that there should be friendly relationships at the international level and that’s the basic principle. But the Americans and their administration are confused. They don’t know what to do. They don’t follow clear policies. They stopped their relationship with us. The Americans thought that if they stopped their relationship with Iran we would be destroyed. 31 years have passed since then and we’re still sitting here. The Iranian nation is making progress. We believe that the American government should change its policies.”
The euronews reporter also asked him to comment on the gap growing between him and the parliament as well as between him and the Supreme Leader.
Ahmadinejad said, “I think in a free society such things happen. There should always be discussions between parliament and the government. Is it bad to have a free government and a free parliament? The position of the Leader is also clear in Iran. There are no differences. We’re a free society in which everyone can express his or her views. There’s no problem. Do you realize that the parliament voted for four new ministers today? And they were all voted for by high numbers, so there is freedom in this country.”
Nobody is in prison in Iran just for expressing views
The president was also asked to comment on the political unrest that occurred after the presidential election of June 2009.
He said, “According to our laws there are legal ways to express objection and there are legal authorities that see to complaints in the course of elections. We see that there are demonstrations in Europe as well, and we see that the police act very harshly. Do you think that there will be changes in Europe? Are people in Europe happy with their governments? Are they able to change their governments?”
Ahmadinejad went to say “are people allowed to write the truth and the realities of the Second World War? Or can they take any measures against the prevalent systems? I’m sure they can’t, but in Iran people express their objections through legal channels and their complaints are seen to. However some scientists are now in prison for expressing their historical views.”
Asked if there is freedom for Mirhossain Moussavi and Mehdi Karoubi who are under house arrest, Ahmadinejad said, “There are prisons everywhere. There are problems with the judiciary. The judiciary in Iran is independent. I don’t have the right to interfere in what judges decide. There are certain laws according to which people can interact with the judiciary. If you’re asking my personal view, I wish and I hope that there will be not even one single prisoner in the world, in all parts of the world, in Abu Ghraib, in all hidden prisons in Europe.”
He added, “Nobody is in prison just for expressing their views.”
Iran’s nuclear program
Asked about Iran’s nuclear activities and its decision to triple that production of uranium at 20 percent, the president stated, “The production of uranium at 20 percent is just for peaceful purposes. This is for a reactor that produces active radio drops. It just produces drops. The 20 percent is not good for anything else, it’s only good for drugs and agricultural purposes. The countries that are capable of enriching uranium can produce uranium at any percentage. This is the capability that we have. At the same time, we’re among the limited number of countries whose activities are under the control of the IAEA cameras.”
Syria unrest
In reply to a question whether or not Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is handling the situation in the country well, Ahmadinejad said, “Many of the problems that we witness today and we are used to witnessing in the past have been due to the interference of others. If there are problems in certain places, then we should try to seek the roots in past intervention in past interferences.”
