Ahmadinejad blasts Obama, seeks allies on sanctions

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that new sanctions slapped on his country will not alter Tehran's nuclear drive, remaining defiant in the face of growing Western pressure.Speaking on Thursday after meeting fellow Muslim leaders at a summit in Nigeria, the Iranian leader said no matter how many sanctions resolutions are approved, "there will be no minor change in our nuclear programme.""Those resolutions are only paper," he said through a translator.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit UN Security Council member Uganda this week for talks over its nuclear programme and Kampala's oil industry, the foreign ministry here said Tuesday."He?s coming for a two-day visit where will be discussing bilateral relations," said James Mugume, the permanent secretary of Uganda?s foreign ministry.The Iranian leader is scheduled to arrive in Kampala Friday."Obviously as a member of the Security Council we are going to discuss the issue of nuclear energy," Mugume told AFP, without giving details.

The US and European embargo of Iranian oil is one of the factors behind the stubbornly high price of crude, trumping the huge slump in petroleum demand in the US. Although Iranian oil exports are down 33%, Iran is on a course for its third largest oil-related earnings ever. Thus, the primary beneficiary of high oil prices is Iran. Rather than blame himself for the absurdity of the situation, president Obama blames oil speculators. High Oil Prices Shield Iran From Sanctions

CAIRO — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussed the crisis in Syria with his Egyptian counterpart Tuesday in the first visit by an Iranian leader to Cairo in more than three decades, marking a historic departure from years of frigid ties between the regional heavyweights. Ahmadinejad’s three-day visit, which is centered around an Islamic summit, is the latest sign of efforts by Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to improve relations, which have been cut since Iran’s 1979 revolution.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that his country will defend its rights even if a new sanctions resolution is imposed by the UN Security Council."We are standing in the face of enemies. To defend the rights of the nation, we will pull out any resolutions from the mouth" of the enemies, the hardliner said in a speech marking the 21st death anniversary of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.