Ahmadinejad: US lies about Iran

Iran's President Ahmadinejad says the US claim that Iran poses a threat to the Persian Gulf states is nothing but a meaningless lie. “Iran's stance toward its neighboring countries is one of leniency and mutual respect,” said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while addressing a meeting of the country's envoys to the Persian Gulf states. Ahmadinejad added that the US was pressuring the Persian Gulf countries to rethink their close ties with Iran. The Iranian president also said that the necessary preparations had to be made for 'a world after the fall of the American empire', predicting that 'the US hegemony in the Middle East' would soon come to an end. Ahmadinejad's comments come as speculations grow about a possible conflict between Israel and Iran, following an Israeli maneuver off the shores of the Mediterranean in early June, and the more recent Iranian missile tests.