Ahmadinejad to go to UN General Assembly, seeks Obama debate (Roundup)

Sep 7, 2009, 9:28 GMT

   Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that he would attend the United Nations General Assembly this month and declared his readiness to debate US President Barack Obama.

   'As I said before, I am ready to have a debate [with Obama] at the UN and refer to the roots of today's global dilemmas and listen to other viewpoints as well,' Ahmadinejad said at a press conference.

   The president said he would be willing to discuss all relevant issues with his US counterpart but said the debate should be conducted before world media.

   He has made similar requests in the past, asking for debates with both Obama and his predecessor George W Bush, which the White House rejected as propaganda.

   'We welcomed the slogan of change [by Obama], but then realized that there is no honesty in this slogan, especially during the [Iranian presidential] election,' Ahmadinejad said.

   In line with the European Union, Obama decried the violent crackdown on demonstrators accusing the government of fraud in the June 12 election.

   Although Ahmadinejad congratulated Obama on his election victory last November, the US president and the heads of European Union states refrained from congratulating him on his re-election.

   Ahmadinejad said Tehran was after 'constructive talks' with all world states, 'including the US but excluding Israel,' adding that Iran would not rule out further talks with Washington if they served national interests.

   Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic ties for three decades, and Obama's presidency had been expected to ease the estrangement.

   But controversies over Ahmadinejad's re-election and his rejection of nuclear talks with the US and other world powers have diminished the perspectives for a new era of Iran-US ties.