Iranian Leader Opens Up
Ahmadinejad Speaks Candidly With Mike Wallace About Israel, Nukes, Bush
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Play CBS Video Video Ahmadinejad's Message For Bush After not hearing back from the White House about his 18-page letter three months ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had a message for President Bush. Mike Wallace reports.
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Video Can Iran & U.S. Renew Ties? Asked whether or not Iran wanted to resume relations with the U.S. after more than two decades, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tells Mike Wallace what he thinks about re-establishing ties.
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Video Iran's Pres. On Nukes & Israel Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks to Mike Wallace about several hot-topic issues such as the country's nuclear program, the war in Iraq and what he personally thinks about Israel.
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Mike Wallace interviews Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Presidential Palace in Tehran on Tuesday, August 8, 2006. (CBS)
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Interactive Mideast Conflict Events, key players and a history of the world's most unstable region.
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Fast Facts Iran Learn about the people, economy and history.
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Interactive Iran Hostage Crisis Look back at the 444-day Iran hostage crisis, which began on Nov. 4, 1979.
"I am told that your revolutionary guards, Mr. President, are taking bombs, those - those roadside bombs - the IED's into Iraq. And what they are doing is furnishing the insurgents in Iraq with the kind of material that can kill U.S. soldiers. Why would you want to do that?" Wallace asked.
"Well, we are very saddened that the people of Iraq are being killed," Ahmadinejad replied. "I believe that the rulers of the U.S. have to change their mentality. I ask you, sir, what is the American army doing inside Iraq? Iraq has a government, a parliament. Iraq is - has a civilized nation with a long history of civilization. These are people we're dealing with."
Asked if he thinks Saddam Hussein was a civilized, reasonable, leader and whether the United States was wrong about going into Iraq, Ahmadinejad said: "Well, Saddam's story has been finished for close to three years, I would say. He belongs in the past. … And the Americans are openly saying that 'We are here for the long run,' in Iraq that is. So, a question for you, according to international law, the responsibility of providing security rests on the shoulder of the occupying, rather army. So, I ask them why are not - why are they not providing security?"
Instead of security, he says the United States is oppressing Iraq, and instead of calling the United States, "the great Satan," as the Ayatollah Khomeini did, Ahmadinejad calls the United States "the great oppressor."
"We are opposed to oppression," the president told Wallace. "We support whoever is victimized and oppressed even the oppressed people of the U.S."
A senior European diplomat in Tehran told Wallace that Iran's president feels the United States should be confronted in Iraq - and around the world - because he truly believes that the U.S. government is against Islam, and the developing world, that America keeps pushing Iran and other countries around, and he is determined to push back.
The Bush administration paints Iran's president as America's mortal enemy - as a man who wants nuclear weapons and supports Islamic terrorists. For his part, President Ahmadinejad views the United States as his major adversary.
He's the son of a blacksmith; was a commando during the Iran-Iraq war; has a Ph.D. in civil engineering, and became president a year ago by running as a populist man of the people. He is savvy, self-assured and self-righteous, but he rarely gives interviews to American journalists. His last U.S. newspaper interview was six months ago in USA Today.
But he sat down with 60 Minutes because he wanted to speak directly to the American people - and to President Bush.
Produced By Robert G. Anderson ©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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See all 3479 CommentsDid u also know that saddam hussein was supported by The USA for over 20 years and suddently he became terrorists when the USA had no interest in him anymore. Did you also know that bin ladin and the talibans were supported by USA one.
you need to get out more and try to learn more about other religions and cultures. And don't think that everyone should be like americans and if they are not they are behind. And you are so busy judgeing other countries that you are also forgeting what Americn is doing to other countries. YOu said that Iran is constantly thretening other countries. For your information it is ur country America who is doing that and wants every country to be under its control.
you said Iran is still living in 1500. Actually Iran is far better than its neighboring countries, one of the reasons they are poor is bc they had sanctioned on them by America, yea it is a poor country comapare to America but they are not behind. Compare a high school graduate from Iran to one in America, you will see the difference.
Although I am supplying my name, I should like to protect my anonymity and sign off simply as an Iranian American.
Sincerely
He didn't push away any of your questions? Do you have amnesia? He didn't answer anything of substance. This guy is dangerous. I could care less what he does in his spare time. He used you like a puppet.
It's time for you to hang it up as a used to be great journalist.
Thank you for giving my family and I a chance to live freely, make something of ourselves, get the best education and live out our dreams back in 1979! If it wasn't for you... I would be forced to cover myself up to my eye balls, treated like a 3rd class citizen because I'm a woman, most likely beaten, jailed, thrown acid on my face, or even burried up to my neck to be stoned like that poor woman 10 years ago who refused to bow to Islamic law of the land! Again, I say THANK YOU beautiful and free nation! May your loving and open arms never refuse the ones fleeing opperession and dictatorship. Truly you are a nation blessed!
Your adopted daughter!
In addition, regardless of your views on Israel, the Iranian President doubts that the Holocaust even took place saying that "further investigation" was needed.
He believes Britain and the US control the UN Security Council on which France, China and Russia all sit as permanent members with veto power. In the last five years France and Russia have scuttled US requests to the UNSC numerous times.
We in America can criticize our President and government, protest against them, attend rallies that support Hezbollah and equate Israel with Nazi Germany (ANSWER rally this weekend. Iranians can not do that. Those of you here who speak so glowingly of the Iranian President, what does that mean to you? Lastly, for those who say the interview was badly done or should never have aired, you can't oppose or support something unless you see it up close, the Iranian Pres was presented up close and personal and to me, he is more dangerous than the Bush folk ever painted him to be. It worries me that people seem to be blind to that.
I still think Wallace did a good job of pushing teh Iranian president, he did not overstep his bounds but he was tough, as tough as one could expect him to be.
I still also think the Iranian President is a threat. He talks about "democracy" but Iran has steep restrictions on the press, public criticism of the government, and now, on internet usage. And no, the restrictions in Iran are nothing like the Patriot Act or some alleged creeping of the US govt into personal lives. What people say on this site about President Bush, and hundreds of other sites, the protests this weekend by ANSWER in Washington, DC, none of that would be allowed in Iran. People should think about that before making the Iranian President out to be somekind of victim of American imperialism fighting the good fight.
Are you for real or are you a total idiot?
You must be one giant idiot to even write this trash about Iran on a serious news-broadcasting site.
Please spear us from any additional non-sense.
Thanks.
There is a very uncultivated mentality being nurtured here in the U.S. of "you are either with us or against us." It strikes me as very odd that the U.S. is attempting to very probably go to war against Iran for developing nuclear energy. We HAVE nuclear energy right here in the U.S. We have bombs and we have the capability to stage nuclear war. Guess what? So does Israel.Does this mean that only the U.S. and its best friend Israel are allowed to have nuclear energy? Have we really become that superior and ignorant as to hold ourselves above the rest of the world? How can we ask other nations to not gaurantee themselves rights which we gaurantee ourselves?
We all need to STOP hating the Muslim, and or Arab "enemy" and start cultivating our intellect and understanding of other nations, in the same way we cultivate our economic/military forces.
The only problem is that the modern country of Iran remains to be under Islamic govermnet which opposes religous laws on ppl. By the way, the revolution that brought Mullahs to power was supported strongly by American goverment to just kick out an old useless puppet and put up a new one. The socialist party at the time was the strngest goverment and U.S. was that they would take over the house. Therefore, they went ahead made deal with Khomeini. But now these new puppets are not taking orders as they used to, so U.S> is unhappy!
U.S. has played roles like this through out its short history in many countries in order to get maximum resources! its not news!
i suggest people should stop following the mainstream media which only serves to big guys.
Lets not get emotional over deep issues and see them unbiasly with its negatives, possites, and all the other elements that had, are, or will affect them.
P.s. I apologize for poor english,English has been my second language for the past 5 yrs.
I had heard about the lengthy letter Mr. Ahmadinejad sent to Bush. Why didn't the American press tell us the contents of that letter and question Mr. Bush about it? Bush rejected that letter out-of-hand, but I'd like to know the same things this Iranian man wanted to know: Why doesn't George Bush talk to anybody with a different point of view? How does Mr. Bush reconcile his avowed love for Christ and Christian teachings with the amount of death and destruction he has unleashed on Iraq and his support for the destruction of Lebanon? Why does Israel hold so much power over my country--the United States? And how can the world's only alleged Super Power, the US, act with such obvious bias towards some and such blatant hostility towards others? All the above are recipes for disaster, and somebody ought to ask Mr. Bush why he is taking our country down this path.
Mr. Wallace threw away a rare opportunity. The only thing he proved--to me, to Mr. Ahmadinejad, and to the world--is that both Mike and George are fools.
IF HUMAN RIGHT OR THE RIGHT OF WOMEN IS HAVING PLAYBOY AND *** MARRIGE OR HAVING MADDONA AND PAMELA ANDERSON WE DO NOT WANT THAT.
AND ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND SIENCE AND...
PLEASE READ MORE AND TRY TO HAVE TRIP TO IRAN INSTED OF LISTENING TO FOXNEWS AND CNN.
never
you still do know iranians well.
we will make our nuke and the only thing that you can do is to pray for your jesus to return from sky and stop us.
as i said before us has 2 options
1:killing all of iranians
2:accept iran as a power in the area
-No political, administrative or diplomatic attitudes.
-No plan for economic improvement in the long term.
-Constantly talking about how old his culture is. I'd like to ask him if his culture is so old, why are their countries so much behind in everything? They are living in the 1500's or so.
-Stuck in outdated and stupid topics like "illiterate percent of Americans", "Americans who don't have medical insurance", etc. How he dares to compare the quality of life in the US with his country?
-"Answering" the questions with his propaganda of hate.
-Always blaming others for their failures and mistakes.
-Constantly afraid that the "Americans are going to attack" him.
-Having no answer to any question but rambling all the time.
-Being a hater.
He sounds like a deeply-troubled pathological psychological profile.
The people of Iran deserve and can have better than that. They deserve a real leader for the future, a government by freedom that will serve to their people, not to the special interests of greedy rich groups of murderers. This guy that's representing Iran now is a clown.
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