Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in New York to protests ahead of an appearance on Monday local time at Columbia University and an address to the UN General Assembly later in the week.
In a television interview taped in Iran last week and aired on Sunday on US television, Ahmadinejad said that Iran was neither building a nuclear bomb nor headed to war with the US.
The public-relations push appears aimed at presenting his views directly to a US audience amid rising strains and talk of war between the two nations. Ahmadinejad was to speak and answer questions at a forum at the elite university on Monday, followed by a scheduled address to the UN General Assembly today.
On Sunday, the day the Iranian leader arrived in New York, a group of elected officials and civic leaders demonstrated outside Columbia University. Protests were to follow on Monday near Columbia and the UN, where the Iranian president was due to address the General Assembly today.
Columbia's invitation has drawn howls from politicians, religious groups and other organizations. But the university has not backed down, and its president, Lee Bollinger has promised to grill the Iranian leader on subjects such as human rights, the Holocaust – which Ahmadinejad has called a "myth" – and Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Tensions are high between Washington and Teheran over US accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons, as well as helping Shi'ite militias in Iraq that target US troops – claims Iran denies.
"Well, you have to appreciate we don't need a nuclear bomb. We don't need that. What need do we have for a bomb?" Ahmadinejad said in the interview with CBS' 60 Minutes that was taped in Iran on Thursday. "In political relations right now, the nuclear bomb is of no use. If it was useful it would have prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union."
He also said that: "It's wrong to think that Iran and the US are walking toward war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing."
Before leaving Iran, Ahmadinejad said the American people have been denied "correct information," and his visit will give them a chance to hear a different voice, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Ahmadinejad has appealed to the American people before, distinguishing between the population and their government. Recently, he told a television show that Iran wants peace and friendship with America. Since coming to power in 2005, Ahmadinejad also has sent letters to the American people criticizing President George W. Bush's policies in the Middle East.
Washington has said it is addressing the Iran situation diplomatically, rather than militarily, but US officials also say that all options are open. The commander of the US military forces in the Middle East said he did not believe tensions would lead to war.
"This constant drum beat of conflict is what strikes me, which is not helpful and not useful," Admiral William Fallon, head of US Central Command, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television, which made a partial transcript available on Sunday.
