国际英语新闻：Iran's president defends foreign, economic policies

TEHRAN, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday defended his much-criticized foreign and economic policies as campaigns were heating up for the June 12 presidential election.

    "The Iranian government has realized great objectives in its foreign policy," the English-language channel Press TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying at a press conference for Iranian media.

    "Enemies could not launch political attacks on Iran any more" because of his foreign policy, Ahmadinejad said. "Any military attack against Iran is out of the question."

    Ruling out claims that Iran has become degraded, Ahmadinejad said, "Take a look round the world, you will see the Iranian nation is the most endeared nation worldwide."

    During Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran continues to speed up its nuclear program and has refused to end uranium enrichment despite UN Security Council resolutions calling for it to do so.

    The Iranian president still maintains a hard line towards the United States and Israel.

    "How can we pull back with just some hollow threats by some bullying powers?" Ahmadinejad said. "The Iranian nation won't be intimidated by threats."

    He insisted that Iran's diplomacy will be based on dignity, prudence, exigency and national interests if he is reelected president.

    Ahmadinejad said Tehran had been contacted several times to enter talks with the new administration of the United States.

    "We said we will have no talks before the election. They were insisting holding negotiations before the election," Ahmadinejad said.

    "They called several times ... and we told them we wanted to postpone it until after the election," Ahmadinejad said. "Mr. (U.S. President Barack) Obama finally accepted and said: 'Ok, let's do it after the election'."

    On the economic front, Ahmadinejad, who took office as president in August 2005, has dramatically increased government spending and has supported subsidies for lower-income families.

    But as Iran is suffering from soaring inflation and high unemployment, his track record in the economic field has been a frequent target of criticism.

    Ahmadinejad dismissed the criticism Saturday, saying Iran's current economic situation was "proper" and that the country's economy was moving forward.

    "I believe that we have been able to have our best economic management despite severe economic crises and four sanctions resolutions," Ahmadinejad said.

    "Our economic bases are such that we can be hopeful of prosperity of our economy," he added.

    The two reformist candidates -- former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and former Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi -- and former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei, a moderate conservative, are vying with the incumbent hardliner for the next presidency.