Iran's president in the United Nations
Photo: Attila Somfalvi
'U.S. has bad intentions for Iran'
Iranian president attacks the United States in CNN interview one hour before addressing the United Nations; European Union says U.N. speech would help determine next step in crisis
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told CNN that "the United States has bad intentions towards Iran," an hour before his scheduled address to the United Nations.
The Iranian president said he would defend his country's "right" to enrich uranium, and called for the creation of a special U.N. committee to limit the spread of atomic weaponry.
He added that Iran planned to "guard its rights."
Asked whether Iran would use the oil weapon as a political tool in the nuclear dispute, Ahmadinejad said, "I think any intelligent, healthy, smart human being should use every resource in order to maintain his or her freedom and independence."
The foreign ministers of Britain, Germany, and France met with Ahmadinejad on Saturday on the sidelines of the U.N. conference in New York.
During the meeting, British secretary of state Jack Straw said that the countries of the European Union hoped to avoid a need to submit the nuclear issue to the U.N. Security council.
Straw also added that the European countries would decide their next step only after hearing Ahmadinejad's U.N. speech.
There had been some speculation that the Iranian president will, in the course of his speech, suggest new ways to solve the nuclear crisis with the United States and European Union.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said that if diplomatic attempts fail, the Security Council would deal with the crisis.
