By NNN-PTI
New York : Iran does not need nuclear weapons and is not heading towards a war with the United States, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on a controversial visit here amid tight security and strong protests, said.
The Iranian President, who flew into New York Sunday, would address the UN General Assembly and take part in a question-answer session in the premier Columbia University.
His arrival was preceded by what analysts termed a major public relations campaign with the President asserting in an interview in Tehran that neither his country was on a path to war with the US nor was it making nuclear bombs as alleged by the American administration.
“It’s wrong to think that Iran and the US are walking towards war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing,” he said in an interview to ’60 Minutes’ news programme of CBS television.
Ahmadinejad said Tehran’s nuclear ambitions were transparent and the programme was being conducted under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Our plan and programme is very transparent. We are under the supervision of the agency. Everything is on the table. We have nothing to hide,” he said.
The nuclear bomb is of no use, he said adding, “If it was useful it would have prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union. If it was useful, it would have resolved the problems the American have in Iraq. The time for the bomb is passed.”
Despite protests by political leaders and some groups which call him “holocaust denier” and assert that he has American blood on his hands as he supports terrorists in Iraq, the Columbia University event is still on.