Ahmadinejad Dismisses WikiLeaks Cable "Mischief"

Iran's president said Monday that leaked American diplomatic memos recounting Arab calls for the U.S. to launch a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities were intended to stir "mischief."

According to the memos released Sunday by online whistle-blower Wikileaks, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

"We don't give any value to these documents," Ahmadinejad told a news conference. "It's without legal value. Iran and regional states are friends. Such acts of mischief have no impact on relations between nations."

WikiLeaks Puts U.S. In Damage Control Mode
Key GOP Pol: WikiLeaks a Terrorist Group
WikiLeaks Claims Cyber Attack
WikiLeaks Releases State Dept. Documents
Leaked Cables Shine Light on Iran Nuclear Threat
Worldwatch: Embarrassing Revelations Abound
Worldwatch: Diplomatic Shockers
White House Condemns WikiLeaks' Document Release
WikiLeaks Defies U.S., Releases Embassy Cables

Ahmadinejad alleged the leaks were an "organized" effort by the U.S. to stir trouble between Iran and Arab neighbors.

Arab nations just across the Persian Gulf are known to be wary of Iran's rising regional influence, military power and nuclear activity. The leaked documents, however, reveal a much higher degree of alarm in the calls for U.S. military action.

The U.S. has helped several Arab nations in the Gulf increase their anti-missile defenses and itself has a naval presence in the region.

Ahmadinejad questioned the credibility of the information contained in the U.S. documents and accused the American government of pursuing a strategy resembling "an intelligence and psychological war game."

He asserted it was aimed at having a "political impact" but would fail.

"Nations are aware. Such a game will have no effect. It's so worthless that it isn't worth someone referring to them or wasting time to refer to them."

In the same news conference Monday, Ahmadinejad accused Israel and Western governments of being behind the killing of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist in a bombing earlier in the day.

Assailants on motorcycles attached bombs to the cars of two nuclear scientists as they were driving to work in Tehran Monday, killing one and wounding the other, Iranian officials say.

Ahmadinejad said "undoubtedly the hand of the Zionist regime and Western governments is involved'' in the killing. But he said the assassination wouldn't stop Iran from pursuing its nuclear programs.