We can weather UN sanctions: Iranian Prez

In the interview, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iranians "do not have any problem with the people of the United States."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview published on Monday that nations calling for economic sanctions over his country's nuclear programme would lose far more than Tehran.

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"These difficulties are the prelude to advancement," Ahmadinejad said in an interview published in the USA Today newspaper.

"I believe those who want to impose limitations on us will lose more than us," the Iranian leader said.

In the interview conducted on Saturday -- Ahmadinejad's first with a US newspaper -- he said that Iranians "do not have any problem with the people of the United States."

But he had harsh words for President George W Bush's administration, which may seek UN sanctions over Iran's decision to resume its nuclear programme.

"They choose to threaten us and make false allegations, and they want to impose their lifestyle on others," Ahmadinejad told USA Today.

"This is not acceptable," he said.