'Lust for power' prolongs evil in world

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution says 'lust for power' has significantly contributed to the persistence of all the ills of the world

The Leader says West's 'lust for power' has prolonged evil in the world.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that for generations, Western imperialism has been the root cause of all problems around the globe.

The quest for superiority over other nations has regularly been pursued by hegemonic powers through exerting economic and political pressure or military intervention.

The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 is one of the most recent instances of military adventurism.

The Bush White House launched the war in the oil-rich Middle East under the pretext that Baghdad, under the rule of former dictator Saddam Hussein, was an active producer of chemical and biological weapons with ties to al-Qaeda.

The US invasion has claimed the lives of over one million civilians and more than 4,100 American soldiers despite the fact that all US allegations have been discredited as fabrications.

The US elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, revealed in September 2007 that oil was the prime motive for invading Iraq.

"I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows; the Iraq war is largely about oil," Greenspan said.

Ayatollah Khamenei (R) met with foreign dignitaries, attending the 'Religion in the Modern World' conference hosted by former president Mohammad Khatami.

In his meeting with a group of foreign political, religious dignitaries in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei raised the question as to whether the catastrophes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine had been caused by miscommunication among nations or such tragedies were the result of the 'lust for power' of world powers.

"We do not hold this generation accountable for the mistakes made by past generations," the Leader said.

"Western echelons, however, are still following in the footsteps of their ancestors by seeking to dominate the world and suppress other nations."

Ayatollah Khamenei called on world leaders to strengthen dialogue in order to ease simmering global tensions.

The Leader, however, stressed that merely talking about world problems will not help resolve these issues and will not help restore justice.

"The world will only see peace once calls for justice and the fight against oppression become an integral part of the quest for peace."

Ahmadinejad warns of US plundering

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that Washington's financial meltdown may pave the way for a new era of loot and plunder.

Ahmadinejad says the national resources of world countries should not serve as Washington's economic savior.

“Washington has long sought to extricate itself from its predicaments by stripping countries of their national resources,” he said on Saturday.

“The time has come for the nation's of the world to join forces and prevent Washington from depending on their national resourses in times of financial turmoil,” he said.

Washington's is in the grips of an enormous crisis in its financial markets, the likes of which have not been seen in generations and it is impacting global money markets, triggering a domino effect of bankruptcies, forced mergers and radical socialist-style government nationalizations and interventions in the banking sector that began with Washington's unprecedented USD 850b financial bailout plan.

"The world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s," the International Monetary Fund said in its latest report.

In a Friday statement, US President George W. Bush said he is willing to play a 'special role' to restore stability in global markets as the Dow Jones Industrial Average capped its worst week since 1914 after falling some 700 points upon opening Friday.

Ahmadinejad urged the nations of the world to remain vigilant in the face of hegemonic efforts to plunder their national resources.

He explained that years of US pressure has provided the Islamic Republic a great opportunity to excel in various fields of science, technology, business and agriculture.

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