Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday hit back at US President 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 said 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 steadfeastly rejected for more than 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-EU summit. “Now’s the time for all of us to work together to stop them.”
As well as advocating tough diplomatic action, the US 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,” Ahmadinejad said. “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.
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