Ahmadinejad: 'We can help secure Iraq'

Last Modified: 12 Sep 2007
By: Jon Snow

In an extended Channel 4 interview, President Ahmadinejad says Iran does not need a bomb and said his country had a role in future Iraqi security.

Watch the interview

Jon Snow at the presidential palace
President Ahmadinejad discusses Iraq
The uranium question
The issue of Israel
More questions about the war in Iraq and nuclear bombs
Watch the full interview
Watch the full interview in Farsi

Jon Snow interviewed Iran's president Ahmadinejad from the presidential palace gardens in a live interview for Channel 4 News.

"The English people should be in their country and serve their own people."
Iranian President Ahmadinejad

On British deaths

Iranian President Ahmadinejad told Channel 4 News that he is sorry for the UK soldiers killed in Iraq stating, "We are deeply sorry about the events in Iraq, we are also sorry about the Iraqi people being killed as well as that your soldiers are being killed."

Mr Ahmadinejad said, "Our message is that of friendship for all - we like all nations we also like all human beings. Whoever is killed we are distressed, we don't rejoice in it because your soldiers are also human beings, poor things, they do not know where they are. "

The issue of Iraq

He went on to say, "We can help to sort out the problems in Iraq regarding the re-establishment of security and peace. We can help the occupiers to leave Iraq and we have announced this repeatedly."

"If the US and the English governments amend their behaviour and direction in Iraq they won't have any problems and there won't be any need for these problems."

"We don't need a bomb, we are fundamentally opposed to the bomb for various reasons"
Iranian President Ahmadinejad

"We do not need a bomb"

Mr Ahmadinejad also stated repeatedly that Iran does not want to develop a nuclear bomb, saying, "We don't need a bomb, we are fundamentally opposed to the bomb for various reasons. "

"The main reason is we are ideologically against bombs and politically it is not beneficial."