In a rare interview with the US media, Ahmadinejad told ABC television: Fear? Why should we be afraid? First, the possibility (of attack) is very low, he said the day after the United States accused Iranian agents of smuggling armour-piercing bombs into war-torn Iraq.
Our nation has made it clear that anyone who wants to attack our country will be severely punished, Ahmadinejad added.
While the Iranian leader sidestepped US accusations that is supplying potent weapons to Iraq insurgents, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini categorically rejected the charge. The US accusations from the past months concerning Iran s implication in the troubles in Iraq are without foundation, Hosseini said.
They have made these allegations with the aim of creating propaganda.
An anonymous group of senior US officials had shown journalists in what they said was proof that Iranian agents have smuggled weapons to Iraq, including explosively formed penetrators , a form of roadside bomb. But Ahmadinejad shrugged off the accusations and instead lambasted the presence of US-led foreign troops in Iraq, saying instability there would hurt all countries in the region.
We shy away from any kind of conflict, any kind of bloodshed, the Iranian leader said. That s why we re opposed to the presence of Americans. Ahmadinejad added: We tell them to leave the country and any other foreigner should leave the country.
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