Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that the United States and Israel plan to attack two countries in West Asia in the next three months as part of a bid to pressure Iran.
“We have precise information that the Americans have devised a plot, according to which they seek to launch a psychological war on Iran,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Press TV.
“They plan to attack at least two countries in the region within the next three months,” he added. However, the Iranian President did not identify the two countries which, he believed, could come under attack.
Mr. Ahmadinejad said the U.S. hoped to achieve two main aims by pursuing a military assault.
“First of all, they want to hamper Iran's progress and development since they are opposed to our growth, and secondly they want to save the Zionist regime [Israel] because it has reached a dead-end.”
The Iranian President said that in September, Iran will resume talks on the nuclear issue with the West. He added that Tehran was keen to involve Turkey and Brazil in these negotiations.
Separately, in an interview with CBS news, Mr. Ahmadinejad asserted that the policy of imposing sanctions against Iran by the U.S. and the EU was “ridiculous.” “I think the policies by the Europeans and the Americans are ridiculous. They think they are going to influence the life of the Iranian society,” said Mr. Ahmadinejad. He added: “In fact, they're imposing sanctions against themselves. Iran is a great nation with a great population. We have vast and rich resources and it's very much easy for us to overcome old problems.” On Monday, the EU imposed fresh sanctions curbing new investments in Iran's oil and gas sector as well as additional restrictions on having financial tie ups with Tehran.
On Tuesday, Russia said these new sanctions were “unacceptable.” Turkey has also announced it would not abide by the tighter sanctions imposed against Iran by the EU and Washington.
