Ahmadinejad strikes aggressive tone ahead of Istanbul talks

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke aggressively against the West on Thursday, ahead of upcoming talks this weekend in Istanbul regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Speaking in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, Ahmadinejad told a crowd of supporters that western powers aim to sow discord among states in the Middle East so that they can wage war and sell their weapons at high prices, reported the semi-official Fars news agency.

Ahmadinejad warned that the West is using Afghanistan as a springboard to domination of the “Eastern bloc,” including Russia and China. “All their claims and pretexts for establishing security in Afghanistan are sheer lies,” he said.

The Iranian leader appeared to be laying down his political position two days before the scheduled P5+1 conference, which will include participants from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. He claimed that the Islamic Republic would insist on its “fundamental rights” to a nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad said that his country would not surrender its nuclear rights “even under the most difficult pressure.”