Ahmadinejad: Israel 'threat' to all nations

The Iranian president says nations cannot be deprived of their right to peaceful nuclear energy while Israel possesses nuclear weapons.

“When an illegal regime [Israel] has atomic weapons, one can not deny the right of other nations to acquire peaceful nuclear energy,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a Tuesday meeting with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran.

Ahmadinejad described Israel as a 'threat to all nations', saying Tel Aviv would 'annex all the countries in the region if it had the chance'.

"Your clear stance towards the Zionist regime had a positive effect in the world, especially the Islamic world, and all nations were undoubtedly satisfied," he added.

Israel — believed to be the sole possessor of nuclear arms in the Middle East — accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons.

The Iranian president further praised Erdogan's stance on Tehran's nuclear program.

In an interview with The Guardian published on Monday, Erdogan said the West had been treating Iran unfairly over its nuclear program, describing Western allegations that Iran is building nuclear weapons as mere 'gossip'.

"Iran does not accept it is building a weapon. They are working on nuclear power for the purposes of energy only," he said.

In the Tuesday meeting with Ahmadinejad, Erdogan reiterated his support for Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy, and said, “Those who claim to seek nuclear disarmament in the world should start with themselves.”