Iran's president blamed U.S. military
interventions around the world in part for the collapse of global financial
markets ahead of his speech Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, AP reported.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said the campaign against his country's
nuclear program was solely due to the Bush administration "and a couple of
their European friends."
"The U.S. government has made a series of mistakes in the past few decades," Ahmadinejad said an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "The imposition on the U.S. economy of the years of heavy military engagement and involvement around the world ... the war in Iraq, for example. These are heavy costs imposed on the U.S. economy.
"The world economy can no longer tolerate the budgetary deficit and the financial pressures occurring from markets here in the United States, and by the U.S. government," he added.
In a separate interview with National Public Radio, Ahmadinejad said he does not want confrontation with the United States.
Despite U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, Ahmadinejad claimed vast international support for his position and said the campaign consisted "of only three or four countries, led by the United States and with a couple of their European friends."
Iran insists its nuclear activities are geared only toward generating power. But Israel says the Islamic Republic could have enough nuclear material to make its first bomb within a year. The U.S. estimates Tehran is at least two years away from that stage.