Transcript: ‘Response ... will be a positive one’

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‘We will repeat these exercises’
WILLIAMS: What about your likelihood of success next year?

AHMADINEJAD: I think that we need to wait for one year.

WILLIAMS: That is all you will say?

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AHMADINEJAD: What do you mean exactly by that?

WILLIAMS: You’re willing to comment no further on your own election?

AHMADINEJAD: Do you have any specific questions? I will be happy to take them.

WILLIAMS: I have one for you. An American, a former FBI agent named Bob Levinson, moved and disappeared in Iran. How much do you know about his case and the status, the search for him?

AHMADINEJAD: There was a claim made some time ago, some people came over, the gentleman’s family came over. They talked and met with our officials and were given our responses. I see no reason for a person who was given an Iranian visa and — came into Iran, arrived in Iran through official channels, to have problems here. Our security officials and agents have expressed their willingness to assess the FBI if the FBI has any information about his travels around the world.

We have said that we are ready to help, to assist with that matter. There are certain information that only FBI at the moment have. I am not an expert in that field, as you might appreciate, so I’m not going to make a judgment here whether that information, as they say, it is true and only held by the FBI or other parties for that matter.

WILLIAMS: Recently, Mr. President, Iran conducted a missile test. The photograph released by your own news agency to the wider world was found by analysts in the United States, using very sophisticated sophisticated computers, to have been doctored. The image was repeated to make it look like a larger launch that it was. Have you looked into this yourself? And do you have a reaction: true or false?

AHMADINEJAD: You need to know what some media have done is fabricated. It’s not authentic. We don’t need to do these things. Our missile defense might is very clear and it is very mighty. I ask them not be hasty. We will repeat these exercises down the line. Whenever there is a need, we will repeat those exercises

WILLIAMS: I’ve seen associates of yours approaching which means we’ve reached our last question. I will give this one last try, Mr. President. And the question is this: Is Iran’s goal to have nuclear power or to be a nuclear power in the sense of possessing weapons. It’s obviously the great fear of Israel and others in this region and it seems to stop the prospect of talks and better relations again and again. A group in Geneva seems to be asking you, coming this Saturday, whether or not you are willing to suspend activity. And one more time, I want to allow you the opportunity to answer.

AHMADINEJAD: It’s very interesting. Before this meeting that is going to take place, you are aware of what other people are going to do, apparently. This tells me that you are a very able reporter and very active. Congratulations are in order. Before something happens, apparently you know what’s going to happen. This is interesting. Having said that, we are not working to manufacture a bomb. We don’t believe in a nuclear bomb. We also think it will not effect political relations. The Zionist regime which you refer to earlier has an arsenal of hundreds of nuclear warheads. Has this arsenal helped the Zionists to prevail inside the conflict inside Lebanon? No.

Again, did nuclear arms help the Soviet Union from falling and disintegrating. For that matter, did a nuclear bomb help the U.S. to prevail inside Iraq or Afghanistan, for that matter. Nuclear bombs belong to the 20th century. We are living in a new century. We think that when it cam to the nuclear issue to nuclear issue, an inappropriate measure or action was taken. Nuclear energy must not be equaled to a nuclear bomb. This is a disservice to the society of man

Nuclear energy is very beneficial and very clean, by the way. All nations must use it. A bomb, obviously, is a very bad thing. Nobody should have such a bomb. If there are parties that claim a bomb is a bad thing, it’s only appropriate for them, as a first step, to destroy their stockpiles. Destroy their bombs and allow clean energy to be utilized by all.

I ask you if today, 1,000 nuclear power plants were up and running, would we have seen an increase in the price of oil? I am sure we wouldn’t have had such high prices which is affecting the economies of all countries. It has created problems for their economies. Nuclear energy is a renewable energy. It’s clean. It’s environmentally friendly and all nations must possess it.

And there should be a very concrete, if I can use the word, set of regulations, a fair set of regulations which will control the activities of all nations to supervise things, without discrimination. To supervise without discrimination. Allow nations to have access to such clean energy. [UNINTELLIGIBLE] which I talked about earlier will show itself, will manifest itself here as well.

There are parties, which have bombs themselves, and they have nuclear energy as well and unfair basis and on a discriminatory basis, they are preventing other people — other parties, from utilizing clean nuclear energy.

On many occasion, the IAEA has officially announced that there has been no diversion when it comes to nuclear activities on the part of Iran. I would like to repeat again: if parties want to cooperate with the Iranian nation, the way to go about that would not be ultimatums or threats or to ask the Iranian people, for that matter, to give up its rights. That option leads to nowhere and it has been experimented with time and again.

If there are parties which want to experience what has been experienced in the past, I’d advise them not to do that. But having said that, I cannot prevent them from doing that.

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