TEHRAN, Nov 26: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed on Sunday that he would help the United States calm Iraq if Washington changes what he described as its ''bullying'' policy toward Iran.
''We are ready to help you,” Ahmadinejad declared while addressing a group of members of the Basij paramilitary group, affiliated to the elite Revolutionary Guard.
But Iran's firebrand president took the US to task, questioning its motives for invading Iraq. He said: ''You went to Iraq to topple Saddam and find weapons of mass destruction, but it was clear to us that you came in order to dominate the region and its oil.''
Ahmadinejad said that the US and Britain are paying for the instability and violence in Iraq. ''You have been trapped in a quagmire and locked in your place with nowhere to go.''
''The Iranian nation is ready to help you to get out of the quagmire -- on condition that you resume behaving in a just manner and avoid bullying and invading,'' he added.
''Then, nations of the region, headed by the Iranian nation, will be ready to show you the path of salvation,'' Ahmadinejad said. ''It is the time for the leaders of the US and UK to listen. You have reached a dead end in our region as well as in the world.''
President George Bush is scheduled to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki when he visits Jordan on Wednesday and Thursday. His trip follows Vice President Dick Cheney's brief stop on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, another of Iraq's neighbours, to confer with its leader on regional issues.—AP
