Tehran calls Bush remarks on Iran "boring"

Jan 29, 2008, 18:51 GMT

Tehran - Tehran on Tuesday dismissed the anti-Iran remarks by US President George W Bush in his state of the union address as repetitive, 'baseless and boring.'

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said Bush's remarks lacked new points, saying both Iranians and Americans 'have during the past seven years heard such repeated baseless allegations over and over again and gradually got bored listening to them.'

President Bush said Monday that the US would not back down from blocking Iranian-backed extremism in the Middle East and vowed to protect US interests and allies in the region against the Islamic state's growing influence.

Bush accused Iran of financing terrorist groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and vowed to continue isolating Iran until it complies with UN Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment.

Bush pointed to Iranian support for militias blamed for attacks on US troops in Iraq, and the recent confrontation between Iranian boats and US warship sailing in international waters in the Gulf.

'America will confront those who threaten our troops, we will stand by our allies, and we will defend our vital interests in the Persian Gulf,' Bush said.

Spokesman Hosseini said Bush has made no remarkable achievements during his seven years in office, neither at domestic nor international level, and was unlikely to correct his failures and weaknesses by putting the blame on others.

He added that the world public opinion was well aware of Bush's 'unethical and illegal methods in dealing with international issues.'