 TEHRAN, Iran — The United States is incapable of inflicting "serious damage" on Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday, as a US Navy carrier group steamed toward Iran in what Washington has termed a warning.
| He uses the words 'incapable' and 'serious damage' in ways differently than we do. |
Speaking in an interview with Iranian state television, Ahmadinejad said that Democrats "wise" Americans would not let U.S. President George W. Bush attack Iran. "They (U.S.) are not really in a position to carry out this action (of attacking Iran). I believe there are many wise people in the United States who would not let it happen," he said.
| He's anticipating the Democratic Congress. |
The president said that Washington had not stepped up its campaign against Tehran, despite the furor over Iran's uranium enrichment which saw the U.N. Security Council impose sanctions on the country last month. "U.S. rhetoric against Iran has not increased," Ahmadinejad said. "In 2003, they openly threatened to attack Iran. Now they have indirectly made such threats."
| We usually don't rattle the scabbard as we draw our sword. |
"They want to put us under pressure because they see the Iranian nation as an obstacle in the way of their goals in the region, but they are unable to do so," he said.
"Iran is not seeking confrontation with anybody," he told the interviewers in his office.
| Other than the U.S., the U.N., the IAEA, the Gulf States, the Saoodis, the Zionists, the Afghans, ... |
He appeared to be indifferent to the prospect of a U.S. military strike against Iran, which has been mooted as a response to its nuclear program. "The United States is unable to inflict serious damage on Iran," the president said. |