US, Iranian leaders push nuclear talks

US: US and Iranian leaders Thursday signalled a new desire to revive talks to end the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear aims, despite a US-led protest against Iran’s president at the United Nations.

In separate speeches at the UN General Assembly, Presidents Barack Obama and Mahmud Ahmadinejad said their governments were prepared for such talks, four months after Washington obtained harsh new UN sanctions against Tehran. In an interview, Ahmadinejad said the talks would likely begin in October.

Despite the positive tone on the nuclear front, however, Ahmadinejad infuriated the United States when he suggested the US Government was involved in the September 11 attacks.

The US delegation then led a Western walkout of the assembly. The Iranian President said there was a theory that “some segments within the US government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order also to save the Zionist regime.” Ahmadinejad also attacked Israel and accused the West of monopolizing nuclear power. UNITED NATIONS, Friday, AFP