( BBC ) - The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has said that Iran is not heading for armed conflict with the United States.
In an American television interview, he said Iran was not on a path of war with the US and that Iran had no need of nuclear weapons.
He is due to address the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
The US is leading moves to impose further sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear development programme.
"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," the Iranian leader said in the interview with CBS television.
He also denied Iran had nuclear arms ambitions.
"You have to appreciate we don't need a nuclear bomb. We don't need that. What need do we have for a bomb?" Mr Ahmadinejad asked.
"In political relations right now, the nuclear bomb is of no use."