10 Questions for Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad

By Adam Zagorin

Iran's new President flew to New York City last week, where George W. Bush was lobbying the United Nations to stop Tehran's uranium-enrichment program. From his heavily guarded hotel suite, Ahmadinejad, a blacksmith's son who still drives his 1977 white Peugeot on occasion, spoke with TIME's Adam Zagorin about his nuclear frustrations, the Iraqi insurgency and his wife's home cooking.

SOME AMERICANS CLAIM YOU HELPED HOLD THEM CAPTIVE AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN TEHRAN MORE THAN 25 YEARS AGO. YOU HAVE SAID YOU DID NOT PARTICIPATE, BUT IF YOU HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK TO THOSE FORMER HOSTAGES NOW, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

What is important is to think about the real root causes of those events. It's not important who those students were. What was important was that it was an outcry of our repressed people. We cannot be happy when we see others suffer. But you see, sometimes, in order to gain your rights, you have to do certain things.

THE BIG NEW PROPOSAL YOU'RE PITCHING TO THE U.N. IS TO ALLOW FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AS WELL AS PRIVATE COMPANIES, TO PARTICIPATE IN IRAN'S URANIUM-ENRICHMENT PROGRAM. DO YOU THINK THIS OPENNESS, AS WELL AS THE POTENTIAL TO PROFIT, WILL FINALLY BREAK THE DIPLOMATIC DEADLOCK?

I think everyone is aware that what is happening to Iran [over the nuclear issue] is totally politics.

SO, HOW WILL YOU REACT IF THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY REFERS IRAN'S CASE TO THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL, WHICH COULD IMPOSE SANCTIONS?

We've been extremely cooperative. We have had more than 1,200 man-days of inspections, something that is really without precedent in the last 40 years. Monitoring cameras are everywhere in our facilities. At the same time, we see that some powers continue to expand their armaments. We see that the occupiers of Jerusalem have been getting nuclear warheads. But there is absolutely no report about controls in countries where nuclear arms already exist. So we think that this whole attitude toward Iran is actually a political posture.

IF IRAN'S CASE IS SENT TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL, WILL YOU RESPOND, FOR EXAMPLE, BY HOLDING BACK ON OIL SALES OR LIMITING INSPECTIONS OF YOUR NUCLEAR FACILITIES?

Well, the decision will depend on the circumstances.

DID IRAN'S SUPREME RELIGIOUS LEADER ISSUE A FATWA FORBIDDING THE USE OF NUCLEAR AND OTHER WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION?

Yes, that is correct. When he gives a fatwa, nobody can go in that direction anymore. It means the parliament cannot pass any laws, and the government cannot reserve any budget for that sort of activity because it is considered illegal and also against the religion.

WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THE CALLS OF ABU MOUSAB AL-ZARQAWI FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST SHI'ITES IN IRAQ, AND COULD IT LEAD TO CIVIL WAR?

Any decision that leads to the killing of innocents is something that we reject. We simply do not accept this kind of approach against Sunnis, against Shi'as, against Christians, against Jews. But I think there is a link between [al-Zarqawi] and the continued occupation of Iraq. [Terrorist violence] is perhaps the best excuse to continue the occupation. This is why it is so important to let the people of Iraq stand on their own feet. And they are perfectly capable of ensuring their own security.

WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HAVE FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE?

I think that the American people should have more control over their government. To think that a government would go to some part of the world and start a war there and then take the oil and resources--this is a situation that is not stable because all the people of the world constitute one family. And sooner or later, all the evil that is done in one part of the world will have repercussions in other parts of the world.

WHEN YOU WERE MAYOR OF TEHRAN, YOU USED TO TAKE YOUR LUNCH TO THE OFFICE IN A BAG. DO YOU STILL DO THIS?

That continues. Is there a problem with that? What's wrong if you want to eat the food that your wife has cooked?

WE'RE OUT OF TIME, BUT I WANT TO KEEP GOING UNTIL ...

We've gone one minute over, actually.

O.K., BUT I HAVE TWO LAST QUESTIONS.

This is very common, I think, in America, isn't it? To ask for more.