"Nukes 'politically retarded', says Ahmadinejad"

Mahmoud channels Br'er Rabbit:

As the West continues to press Iran on its nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the country considers developing nuclear weapons as "politically retarded". [...]

President Ahmadinejad reiterated Iranian assertions that the country would never seek weapons of mass destructions -- including nuclear weapons.

"We think those who assume restoring nuclear weapons can have the upper hand in political equations are politically retarded," the president said.

Iran says nuclear weapons are "un-Islamic" and "developing, producing or stockpiling nuclear weapons are forbidden under the rule of Islam."

Tell Pakistan. Elsewhere in the Iranian Press we learn that Presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi "has no fear of devastating revelation."

Presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi stated on Monday that he has no fear of any unfavorable point being revealed that would undermine his campaign.

Commenting on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s claims that he plans to expose his rivals in the scheduled televised debates, Karroubi told reporters at a press conference that his criticism of the administration is based on ethics and legal issues.

Ahmadinejad warned his rivals on Saturday that he will expose his presidential rivals in the televised debates which start on June 2.

Karroubi campaign director Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi said Karroubi’s proposals for running the country are the most "practicable and realistic" ever presented. [...]

That's impressive. "Reformist" Mohammad Khatami reveals meanwhile that "the all-powerful Israeli lobby in the US stands in the way of President Barack Obama's quest to bring change to Washington." "All-powerful," I like that:

[...] In a Sunday interview with Newsweek, Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami said he believes that Obama has genuine intentions to make changes in US ways and means, but is incapable of doing so due to increased pressure from pro-Israeli groups.

"I think Mr. Obama truly wants to have a real change inside America and in terms of America's relations with the rest of the world. The question is whether these reforms will be cosmetic changes or substantial ones. The United States has a strong system of governance with its own policies and traditions, we can't expect one person to change the decision making process."

Replying a question about the main obstacles in the way of Obama, former Iranian President said "One of the biggest obstacles is the Israeli and Zionist lobby. They are a very strong lobby both financially and in the media. They can create negative publicity and psychological warfare at times when they see Israel's interest is in jeopardy," he said.

Khatami said that Israeli lobbying in US policies is to such extent that many people have come to believe that "the real capital of the United States has been transferred to Tel Aviv". [...]

You may have heard that Ahmadinejad is calling for a debate with Obama. While we're at Fars, here is the Fars story on the proposed debate:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday voiced readiness to attend a public debate with his US counterpart Barack Obama at the United Nations over the root causes of the world problems. [...]

"The human being and powers should change their view about world management as this is the only way to establish sustainable peace," Ahmadinejad said, and added, "And a major part of this change should take place in the kind of look that the dominant ruling systems have over the world, and a new system should be created in the world equations." [...]

Right, the UN should also be moved to Tel Aviv.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad