Bush says aim is to “end tyranny” in Iran

Iran Focus: London, Dec. 15 – United States President George W. Bush defended on Wednesday his labelling of Iran as part of the Axis of Evil and said that Tehran posed a “real threat” to the international community. Iran Focus

London, Dec. 15 – United States President George W. Bush defended on Wednesday his labelling of Iran as part of the Axis of Evil and said that Tehran posed a “real threat” to the international community.

In an interview with Fox News, Bush said that he was concerned about the “theocracy that has got little transparency” and that Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had “declared the destruction of Israel as part of their foreign policy”.

Touching on the international stand-off over Tehran’s sensitive nuclear activities, he described Iran as “a country that will not listen to the demands of the free world to get rid of its ambitions to have a nuclear weapon”.

He said that the U.S. would continue to “work the diplomatic front” to tackle the Iranian issue.

Asked what his objective was vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic, the U.S. President said that it was to end “tyranny”.

“And my view of a peaceful world is one in which democracies live side by side. Democracies are peaceful countries. And I also believe in the universality of freedom”.

Bush cautioned the Iranian leadership to be “wise enough” to begin to listen to the Iranian people and “allow the people to participate in their government”.