United Nations – President Bush said Tuesday that the United States seeks peace with Iran and respects Islam, striking a conciliatory tone in an address that spoke directly to Muslims throughout the Middle East.
“To the people of Iran, the United States respects you. We respect your country,” Bush said in a speech before roughly 200 heads of state at the annual opening session of the General Assembly. “We look to the day when you can live in freedom and America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace.”
Four years after he spoke before the same assembly to make a case for the invasion of Iraq, Bush said the United States “desires peace.”
“Extremists in your midst spread propaganda claiming that the West is engaged in a war against Islam,” he said in the 21-minute address. “This propaganda is false, and its purpose is to confuse you and justify acts of terror. We respect Islam, but we will protect our people from those who pervert Islam to sow death and destruction.”
Bush sought to assure the Iranian people that the United States will use diplomacy, not war, to try to persuade the Iranian government to give up its uranium-enrichment program.
Iran insists that its aim is the generation of peaceful civilian power, but the United States and its European allies say the program is aimed at producing a nuclear weapon.
The president’s remarks were notable because some of his most pointed comments have focused on Iran’s misdeeds, including a 2002 speech that called Iran part of an “axis of evil.”
Bush’s speech Tuesday did not mention sanctions, which U.S. officials have raised repeatedly in recent months to push Iran to halt to its uranium-enrichment program.
“Despite what the regime tells you, we have no objection to Iran’s pursuit of a truly peaceful nuclear power program,” Bush said, adding that the main obstacle to a better economic future in Iran is that the country’s government fuels “extremism” and pursues nuclear weapons.
Hours later, Iran’s hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appeared to turn Bush’s words against him.
“For some powers, claims of promotion of human rights and democracy can only last as long as they can be used as instruments of pressure and intimidation,” he said in a speech before the assembly that cited the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the occupation of Palestinian lands by Israel.
“Some powers proudly announce their production of second and third generations of nuclear weapons,” he said, apparently alluding to the Bush administration’s exploration of new types of nuclear weapons. “All our nuclear activities are transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eye of the U.N. inspectors.”
But Ahmadinejad, known for such fiery rhetoric as his call to “wipe Israel off the map,” also struck a conciliatory tone at the end of his speech, calling for those who believe in monotheism – Jews, Christians and Muslims – to “transform animosities into friendship.”
As the two leaders spoke, European officials softened their rhetoric against Iran, making what appears to be a last-ditch effort to coax Iran back to the negotiating table.
Iran ignored an Aug. 31 Security Council deadline to suspend uranium enrichment and failed to accept a lucrative package of economic incentives this summer offered by a coalition of Germany, France, and Britain – a plan also backed by Russia, China and the United States.
The European-led coalition threatened sanctions if Iran rejected the package, but several of those countries appear to have shied away from such actions.
President Jacques Chirac of France stated his opposition to sanctions Monday and proposed restarting nuclear talks with Iran even if Iran does not suspend its enrichment program, a condition that the coalition had demanded.
Chirac’s comments sparked fears that the coalition to confront Iran might be falling apart.
“This was certainly a big blow on efforts by Washington to create a united front in the West,” said Nile Gardiner, a scholar with the conservative Heritage Foundation.
But Tuesday, Bush met Chirac and took pains to highlight their agreement. Bush said the U.S. would give Europe more time to get Iran back to the negotiating table before pushing for tougher measures.
