NEW YORK — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that he will seek leniency for three American hikers who strayed across the Iranian border, and he urged President Barack Obama to see Iran as a potential friend.
The Iranian leader also said he expects “free and open” discussion of nuclear issues at a meeting next week with six world powers, but stressed that his country would not negotiate on its own nuclear plans.
He said the onus should be on the United States and other major nuclear powers to give up their weapons and to expand opportunities for all countries to make peaceful use of nuclear power.
He reiterated explicitly that Iran is not building nuclear weapons, but plans to enrich uranium for use in nuclear power plants to generate electricity.
The Bush administration had refused to negotiate further with Iran until it agreed to freeze its uranium enrichment efforts, which it has refused to do.
When asked about the three American hikers, the Iranian leader said they broke the law by illegally entering Iran. Nevertheless, Ahmadinejad said he will ask the Iranian judiciary to treat the case with “maximum lenience.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the Iranian leader did not elaborate on what that might mean for the fate of the three Americans.
The three have been held for 52 days since they apparently strayed into Iran while hiking in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region in July. Their case has become the latest source of friction between the U.S. and Iran.
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