Following are excerpts from a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which aired on IRINN TV on April 22, 2009.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: A few months ago, I held a meeting with the prime minister of one of those large industrialized countries. For an hour and a half, the gentleman tried to boast about their progress and industrial capabilities, on the one hand, while on the other hand, he tried to portray the front of arrogance [i.e., the West] as capable of harming the Iranian people. Then he tried to tell me that if we give up the path we have taken, and our persistence with regard to the nuclear issue, they would be willing to invest in parts of our energy [industry]. After an hour and a half of talking, promising, and threatening, he finally asked me: "Well, Mr. Ahmadinejad, after everything I've said and all my explanations, will the Iranian people be willing to withdraw from its unequivocal position on the nuclear issue?" I turned to him and said: "My answer, dear sir, is... "tsh'." I said it just like you do: "tsh." He asked: "What does that mean?" I said: "In your language, that means absolutely not. The Iranian people will not withdraw from its position."

That gentleman went on talking and insisting. I felt very sorry for him, so I put my hand on his shoulder, and said: "Dear sir, don't be so afraid of America. Don't be afraid of those Zionists. They are on the verge of death. Their time has past. Do not surrender your people to them." Let me tell you the outcome of that meeting. That gentleman said they would be willing to cooperate with us, to have talks with us, and so on. When he got up, he said: "Mr. Ahmadinejad, you are very tough and steadfast." I answered him: "Mr. Prime Minister, in this world of ours, if a people is not steadfast and has no endurance, it will be swallowed up with all its assets and resources, and will be downed with a glass of water. If you want to defend your people, your country, and your independence, you and your people must be steadfast."

Somebody, somewhere, when we went to that conference [Durban II] a few days ago, said to me: "Sir, you are in Iran, not in Palestine. Do not deal with this issue. Let the 'front of arrogance' implement their plans over there. Don't get so involved." Let me tell you the answer I gave him. I said to him: "Don't you know the nature of the Zionists? Don't you know who the Zionists are? They came in order to take over our region in its entirety. At first, they said that they wanted [a country] from the Nile to the Euphrates. Once the got settled, they said that there had been a mistake, and that they wanted all the Islamic lands. Unless they are put in their place at the very beginning of their conspiracy and fitna, they will jeopardize the security of the whole world, they will jeopardize the security of the whole region – Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, and beyond Iraq. They will take over any place they can get their hands on. They want the entire world. At their very first step, you must crush their step, crush their leg, so that they do not dare to invade the Islamic lands."

[...]

After we announced that we would be attending [Durban II], they began scheming. They brought some people to the hall, to the balconies, to the corridors. They gathered clueless, wretched people, gave them some money, and told them [to interrupt] by shouting. They wanted to achieve two things. First, by making a noise and causing a commotion, they wanted to make me back down from delivering my speech, and from presenting the just positions of the Iranian people. They wanted to prevent me from making a speech at all. This is why the people who dressed up as clowns began their attack, throwing things, at the very beginning of the session, imagining that this would make me leave the podium. The second thing that they wanted to achieve, if they failed to accomplish their first goal, was to make everybody walk out of the hall. They wanted to make everybody leave, so nobody would remain to hear what I had to say. That way, they could later claim that the Iranian people is on its own, that it is isolated, and that the racists and those who oppose justice rule the world. Obviously, you saw what happened. With the grace of God, both their schemes failed. As God is my witness, the person who attacked [me]...

Crowd: Our president – thank you, thank you...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: I thank you all. I am sure that what we did over there – any believing Iranian would have done the same, and would have struck them on the mouth. When he started his attack, I felt like laughing. I felt like laughing at how despicable and ignorant they are. They do not understand that the world has changed, and that with commotion and charlatan conduct, one cannot stop truth anymore, or prevent the annihilation of racism.

[...]

This conference has shown that the three or four selfish European government supporting the Zionist regime are the most hated and isolated governments in the whole world.

They got up... When they saw that their first plan failed and that I didn’t stop my speech, they moved to their second plan. They got up to walk out of the session, and began urging the others: “C’mon, get up. Walk out with us.” I could see everything from above, and I was laughing at their ignorance.

[...]

I said to the Swiss president: “I’ve heard that they have been exerting pressure on you as well.” He said: “Yes, we are facing pressure. They are bullying us.” I asked him: “Where did this economic crisis start?” He said that it started in America. I asked him: “How do they plan to compensate for their losses?” He pointed to his pocket, and said: “They want to compensate for their losses out of our pockets.” And I said: “And out of our pockets, and the pockets of many others.” He said: “That’s true. When they make a profit, it goes straight to their pockets, but when they incur losses, they cover them out of the pockets of the other peoples.”