Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad published an open letter to the people of the United States on Wednesday in which he expressed certainty that most of the US population does not support the policies of US President George W. Bush.
The five-page letter called out to "noble Americans," saying that a dialogue was urgently needed between the United States and Iran, according to the Washington Post.
"If we did not share a common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity then there would have been little urgency to have a dialogue with you," Ahmedinejad said, reported the New York Times.
"We should be cognizant that human values and our common human spirit,
which proclaim the dignity and exalted worth of all human beings, have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together.Both our nations are God-fearing, truth-loving and justice-seeking, and both seek dignity, respect and perfection, he added."
Ahmadinejad also raised the question of whether or not terrorism could be defeated by conventional means, and pointed out that the tactic had led to little progress so far.
The Iranian leader stated that US behavior has not only done little to ease the threat of terrorism worldwide, but that, "in fact, [US behavior] offends global public opinion, exacerbates resentment and thereby spreads terrorism, and tarnishes the US image and its credibility among nations."
The letter also contained a substantial amount about Israel and US support for it.
"What have the Zionists done for the American people that the US administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors? Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors?"
Last May, Ahmadinejad wrote an 18-page letter to Bush in which he criticized the US for its position on Iran's nuclear program.
The US failed to respond to the letter, which represented the first official communication between the two countries' presidents since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Iranians in the street were highly disappointed by the lack of response on the part of the US.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
