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Iran says will resist "bullying" on nuclear plans

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-24 07:17

UNITED NATIONS - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that some "bullying" powers were trying to thwart Iran's peaceful nuclear ambitions but Tehran would resist and defend its right to nuclear power.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the 63rd United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York September 23, 2008. [Agencies]

In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad railed against the United States and other powers he said were being manipulated by Zionists. He also reiterated that Tehran's nuclear ambitions were purely peaceful.

"The great Iranian people ... will resist the bullying and has defended and will defend its rights," Ahmadinejad said.

"The Iranian nation is for dialogue. But it has not accepted and will not accept illegal demands," he said.

Ahmadinejad said there was growing resistance in the world to the aggression and acquisitiveness of "bullying powers," a phrase he used repeatedly to refer to the United States and its allies.

"Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters," he said, referring to Israel.

"American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders," Ahmadinejad said.