Talk of war is 'propaganda': Iranian leader

UNITED STATES: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Monday dismissed talk of war against Iran as "propaganda" and combatively took on US critics who accuse him of denying the Holocaust and backing terrorism.

At the start of a deeply controversial visit to attend UN meetings here, the Iranian leader insisted his Islamic republic had every right to pursue a civilian nuclear program and said "we are a peace-loving nation."

In a tense exchange at New York's Columbia University, Ahmadinejad accused the institute's president Lee Bollinger of a "wave of insults and allegations against me" after Bollinger had introduced the Iranian leader.

Inviting Ahmadinejad to speak at one of America's leading centers of learning "is consistent with the idea that one should know thine enemy ... to confront with the mind of evil," Bollinger had said to cheers from students.

Ahmadinejad grew more relaxed as he got into his stride to accuse the United States of trying to block Iran's legitimate desire to achieve scientific progress in its atomic program.

"We do not believe in nuclear weapons. Period. This goes against the whole grain of humanity," he said.

Smiling and occasionally laughing as he explained Iran's culture and outlook on the world, Ahmadinejad drew the biggest jeers from students for stating that his country has no homosexuals.

"In Iran we don't have this phenomenon, I don't know who you told this," he exclaimed, while also insisting that Iran was a "victim" of terrorism and not an instigator. Ahmadinejad, who has called for the destruction of Israel and downplayed the Holocaust, said he was open to meeting survivors of the devastating Nazi pogrom against the Jews.

"But let us remember then where did the Holocaust happen to begin with? It happened in Europe. And given that, why is it that the Palestinian people should be displaced?" he said earlier via satellite to Washington's National Press Club.

New York, Tuesday, AFP