Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an American television interview aired Sunday night that his country was neither building an atomic bomb nor headed to war with the United States.
"Well, you have to appreciate we don't need a nuclear bomb. We don't need that. What need do we have for a bomb?" Ahmadinejad said in the "60 Minutes" interview, which was taped in Iran on Thursday, the AP reported.
"In political relations right now, the nuclear bomb is of no use. If it was useful it would have prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union."
He also said, "It's wrong to think that Iran and the U.S. are walking toward war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing."
Meanwhile, a top Iranian military official said American troop movements are being monitored by Iran using satellites and other technology and would be in range of Iranian missiles if an attack was launched. In comments appeared by Iranian newspapers on Monday, Yahya Rahim Safavi, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, added he did not expect any U.S. attack because America's problems in Iraq.
"Iran has now a strong intelligence system and missiles. We are closely watching the foreigners' moves in neighbouring countries by highly advanced satellite technology and advanced radars. If they enter our airspace or our territorial waters, they will get a fair response," Rahim Safavi said.
"It seems very unlikely that foreign troops in the region could start another attack because they have been busy with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and they should focus on that," he added in comments carried by Iran Daily.
