President Ahmadinejad said yesterday that talk of American military strikes against Iran threatened world security, as he tried to soften his image in the West.

Greeted in New York by headlines that he was an evil madman, Mr Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran “will not attack any country”. He also ducked a chance to accuse the United States of preparing for war, telling a questioner: “That is not how I see it.” Such talk in America, he said, arose from anger, electoral purposes and “a cover for policy failures over Iraq”.

On the first day of a controversial visit to the US, he refused to give an inch on Iran’s nuclear plans, saying that his country had a right to pursue a civilian programme. In comments guaranteed to enrage a significant part of his audience in New York, he also reasserted his refusal to recognise Israel, saying that the Jewish state was “based on occupation and racism”.

At an appearance at Columbia University yesterday he complained of “insults” as he was on the receiving end of a rousing lecture on freedom, Israel and the Holocaust from Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University.

Mr Bollinger told the Iranian leader: “Mr President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.” To cheers the Freedom of Speech scholar told Mr Ahmadinejad that his denial of the Holocaust made him look “brazenly provocative or extraordinarily uneducated”.

He also challenged the Iranian President for cracking down on academics and students, calling for the destruction of Israel and aiding terror groups, including insurgents killing American troops in Iraq.

The Iranian leader stunned the audience by denying that homosexuality existed in Iran. Asked about his government’s persecution of gays, Mr Ahmadinejad said: “In Iran we do not have homosexuals like in your country. We do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who told you we have it,” he said.

An annoyed Mr Ahmadinejad complained about Mr Bollinger’s “unfriendly treatment”. He said: “In many parts of his speech there were many insults and claims that were incorrect unfortunately.”

Jewish groups picketed the Iranian leader’s appearance at Columbia University – which had cancelled a similar invitation last year.

Even before he arrived, his visit stirred anger after he sought permission to visit Ground Zero, which was refused. Before his Colombia appearance he answered reporters’ questions from Washington via video link. He brushed off questions about human rights abuses in Iran, saying that people there were “very joyous, happy people” and that the women were “the freest women in the world”.

Asked about comments last week by Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, that the world should prepare for war with Iran if nuclear negotiations fail, he said: “It’s bad whenever logic fails . . . to engage in military threats.” He added: “We think the talk of war is basically a propaganda tool.”

Confronted with an accusation yesterday by the US military that Iranian surface-to-air missiles were being used to attack American troops, he said: “Are you telling me the US military is defeated [in Iraq] as a result of two or three weapons here or there? We think the US military should seek an answer for its defeat elsewhere.”

Mr Ahmadinejad landed in New York on Sunday evening for his third trip to the city since taking office. Demonstrators in midtown Manhattan, where he is staying in a five-star hotel, handed commuters placards that said “Hitler Lives”.

Presidential politics has played its part in Mr Ahmadinejad’s reception. Rudy Giuliani, the leading Republican contender and former New York Mayor, branded the idea of a Ground Zero visit outrageous. Mitt Romney, one of his rivals for the Republican nomination, called for Mr Ahmadinejad to be indicted under the Genocide Convention for calling for the destruction of Israel.

The Iranian Foreign Minister suggested that Mr Ahmadinejad, whose visa restricts him to a 25-mile limit around the UN, may still go ahead with a visit to Ground Zero. An Iranian news agency suggested that he may even meet victims’ families.

Hillary Clinton has weighed in with criticism of his visit to Columbia University, as has Newt Gingrich, a possible late Republican candidate.

Heated reaction

“Guest of dishonour”
NY Daily Post

“As a community dedicated to learning and scholarship, Columbia is committed to confronting ideas . . . On occasion this will bring us into contact with beliefs many, most or even all of us will find offensive and even odious”
Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia University president

“If I were a president of the university, I would not have invited him . . . He’s a Holocaust-denier. He’s a supporter of terrorism”
Hillary Clinton

“They have the right to invite who they want. I personally am not going to get involved in criticising them . I wouldn’t go to listen to him”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg

“I think it is an outrage for the university to lend its prestige to a dictator whose Government executes homosexuals, tortures and kills journalists, lock up students”
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives

“Hitler Lives”
Slogan on placards carried by protestors in midtown Manhattan

“I think it’s important that people think about what he says”
Andrea Pereisz, 22, Columbia alumni

“Somebody who denies the Holocaust, it’s clearly anti-Semitism”
Daniel Nussbaum, 21, Columbia student

“It’s a free country. We wish the same were true in Iran”
Dana Perino, Whitehouse spokesman

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