Rouhani blames Israel for bringing ‘instability’ to Middle East

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has said in a television interview that his country is not seeking war, while harshly criticising Israel for bringing “instability” to the Middle East and for questioning his government’s intentions toward nuclear arms.

The comments from the new Iranian president came during the second part of an interview with NBC News, just days before he travels to New York for an appearance at the United Nations.

Mr Rouhani called Israel “an occupier, a usurper government that does injustice to the people of the region” and said it “has brought instability to the region with its war-mongering policies.”

Mr Rouhani also said: “What we wish for in this region is rule by the will of the people. We believe in the ballot box. We do not seek war with any country. We seek peace and friendship among the nations of the region.”

In an earlier part of the interview that aired on Wednesday, he said Iran would never develop nuclear weapons and that he had “complete authority” to negotiate a nuclear deal with the United States and other Western powers.

Mr Rouhani, who took office in August, reiterated that stance when asked about recent comments by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu questioning his motives. Israel, thought to be the only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East, is pushing to halt Iran’s nuclear advance, and Mr Netanyahu has called Mr Rouhani a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“We have clearly stated that we are not in pursuit if nuclear weapons and will not be.”

The interview appears to be the latest signal by the centrist cleric – that has included a recent letter exchange with US President Barack Obama – aimed at improving relations between Iran and the West after years of hostility.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Obama administration was preparing for high-level meetings between Iranian and US officials at the UN gathering next week and was "open to a direct exchange between" the two presidents.

The paper quoted the White House officials as saying there were no plans for such a meeting at this stage, but that the two sides had communicated.

It would be a significant contact – no American president has met a top Iranian leader since the 1979 overthrow of the shah and the taking of American hostages at the US embassy in Tehran.

Since his election in June, Mr Rouhani has taken a dramatic shift in tone from the strident anti-Western rhetoric of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Some questions, however, including Mr Rouhani’s stance on the Holocaust, which killed six million Jews and spurred the creation of Israel, have remained unanswered. Mr Ahmadinejad had previously questioned the Holocaust before the United Nations General Assembly.

Asked whether he also believed the Holocaust was a myth, Mr Rouhani said: “What is important to Iran is that countries, people in the region grow closer and prevent aggression and injustice.”

The White House responded cautiously to the first part of the interview, saying it hoped the new Iranian government would work to reach a diplomatic solution regarding its nuclear programme.

The Israeli embassy in Washington, in a post on Twitter, called the interview part of Mr Rouhani’s “charm offensive”. – (Reuters)