Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared that the turmoil on Wall Street was rooted in part in US military intervention abroad and voiced hope that the next American president would retreat from what he called President Bush's "logic of force."
He also asserted, in an interview with The Times, that Israel was doomed like "an airplane that has lost its engine" and that Western intelligence documents questioning the purpose of Iran's nuclear program were crude forgeries.
"Problems do not arise suddenly," he said. "The US government has made a series of mistakes in the past few decades. First, the imposition on the US economy of heavy military engagement and involvement around the world. The war in Iraq, for example. These are heavy costs.
"The world economy can no longer tolerate the budgetary deficit and the financial pressures occurring from markets here in the United States, and by the U.S. government," he added.
"We do not believe that the U.S. policy perspective, looking at the rest of the world as a field of confrontation, will give good results, " he said.
He declined to say whether he preferred to confront a Republican administration led by John McCain, who opposes negotiating with Iran, or a Democratic one headed by Barack Obama.
"Any US government that comes to power must change previous policy approaches," he said, adding that he was ready to speak with either of the candidates while in New York this week. "We're interested in having friendly relations."
