Ahmadinejad arrives in US
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in New York today denying that his country is building a nuclear weapon.
“In political relations right now, the nuclear bomb is of no use,” Ahmadinejad said in a 60 Minutes interview being shown in the US.
“If it was useful it would have prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union. If it was useful it would (have) resolved the problem the Americans have in Iraq. The time of the bomb is passed.”
The interview with CBS reporter Scott Pelley was recorded on Thursday in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad arrived tonight in New York, according a spokesman for the Iranian Mission to the UN.
He was to speak at Columbia University tomorrow and address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, but protests had already started.
Elected officials demonstrating at Columbia claimed the Iranian leader is trying to obtain nuclear weapons, is a Holocaust denier and rules his country with an iron fist.
The university defended the decision to allow Ahmadinejad to speak as a matter of free speech.
“He should be arrested when he comes to Columbia University, not invited to speak for God’s sake,” said state Assemblyman Dov Hikind.
