Sunday, October 03, 2010

Ahmadinejad calls for US leaders to be 'buried'


ASSOCIATED PRESS
10/03/2010

Iranian president says "may the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world," in language reserved for enemies.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's president Sunday called for US leaders to be "buried" in response to what he says are American threats of military attack against Tehran's nuclear program.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is known for brash rhetoric in addressing the West, but in a speech Sunday he went a step further using a deeply offensive insult in response to US statements that the military option against Iran is still on the table. May the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world," he said using language in Iran reserved for hated enemies.

Several top US officials including Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff have said in recent months that the military option remains on the table and there is a plan to attack Iran, although a military strike has been described as a bad idea.

The crowd of military men and clerics in the town of Hashtgerd just west of the capital chuckled at the president's insult and applauded.


The speech was broadcast by both state television and the official English-language Press TV, but the latter glossed over the insult in the simultaneous translation.

Ahmadinejad's remarks come in sharp contrast to ones he made to Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel in August in which he offered the US Iran's friendship.

In Sunday's speech, Ahmadinejad also questioned once more who was behind the Sept. 11 attacks in the US and said they gave Washington a pretext for seeking to dominate the region and plunder its oil wealth.

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