President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted on Thursday as saying that those who think only about bombs, war, and attacking others are the root cause of everything that is wrong in the world.

The president made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Indian newspaper "The Hindu".

The following is the full text of the interview:

Q: "We are meeting at a time when the crisis over Iran's nuclear program is being escalated. Last week, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution threatening sanctions on Iran even as you are still evaluating your response to the European package of incentives. What is your government likely to do now?"

A: "As I see it, the issue has not become more complicated."

"Rather, it is clear. The U.S. and certain European countries do not want Iran to have access to peaceful nuclear technology and use that technology. And they are using everything at their disposal to make sure of this."

"Recent developments in Lebanon again demonstrate that the UNSC is an instrument under their control. And they used this instrument at their disposal, so nothing important has happened. From the very beginning, they were threatening us with their instrument, which is the UNSC."

"And we responded by asking whether the Security Council is controlled by you because you are constantly talking about it and using it to threaten us. We have known this (reality) for some time now. But these days everything has become that much clearer."

"We have always been interested in talking, and we are still interested in dialogue, in the context of the law, our national interest, and based on justness and fairness. And in a fair atmosphere. This is because we conduct our affairs lawfully and we have always believed and continued to believe in the concepts of peace and tranquility and justice. So we have nothing to fear."

"We managed to access this technology indigenously, here in Iran (points to his head). This is the end result of our scientific endeavors. Nobody can take this away from us (again points to his head). Having said that, we are still interested in talking if there are parties out there which might have questions. We are always interested in receiving their questions and responding to them. They have given us a proposal. And we have responded by saying that we will respond to you later. And we are very much in the middle of studying that package. And we also gave them a date."

Q: August 22?

A: "Yes, we said we would reply on the 22nd of August and they issued a resolution nevertheless! I am at a loss to explain this. What is the meaning of this? The only conclusion I can draw is that they are bullying us. They want to impose their will on us. They really are not looking for a dialogue."

"In all honesty, they do not want to talk to us but want to impose their wishes on us. They want to deny us our rights. They want to place a Damocles sword over our head so that we give up eventually."

"But they have miscalculated. The time for such behaviors is in the past, it's finished. We are not concerned. And they will regret the miscalculation they have made today."

Q: "Last year, at the U.N. General Assembly, you made an interesting proposal for a multinational fuel cycle but the other countries did not respond. Is it possible that on August 22, you will make another proposal, so as to keep the path for dialogue open?"

A: "What we have announced is that we are going to study the package of incentives, and later we are going to express our opinion on this. We are interested in continuing with negotiations. But their most recent behavior is reason enough for us to doubt their sincerity."

"Given everything that has happened, we no longer have any confidence, any trust. We assume that the whole idea of presenting us with a package was a political exercise more than anything else. So it has become very difficult for us to remove from our mind the conclusion we have arrived at, which is that they are less than sincere."

"It is difficult for us to believe they have given up their colonial practices. Of course, there is a lot of possibility, a lot of likelihood, that we are going to continue the packages more and we are going to come back with a response. We are trying our very best to do just that."

Q: "Were you surprised at Russia and China joining hands with the U.S., France, and Britain in passing this resolution at the UNSC?

A: "No. We are standing on our own two feet. Of course, we would like to see our friends stand side by side with us."

Q: "Are there any circumstances if this approach of the U. S. and the Europeans continues, the approach, as you see it, of increasing pressure on you that Iran may one day decide to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Is that at all a possibility?"

A: "We have said time and again that all of our nuclear activities are peaceful, and are conducted in the context and under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and also the articles of the NPT. We remain firmly inside those boundaries."

"Nevertheless, if they decide to use the instruments at their disposal to put pressure on us to limit our activities, and try to take away or deny what is rightfully ours, and to distort our rights, obviously we are going to change our mind."

Q: "About being in the NPT, or about the peaceful nature of your nuclear program?

A: "Well, we are going to respond commensurate to their response."

"In other words, we are going to respond in kind. Having said that, they will not be able to put pressure on us."

Q: "There is a famous fatwa of Ayatollah Khomeini that it is against Islam to use the nuclear bomb. But do you also consider it un-Islamic to make or keep the bomb for deterrence purposes?"

A: "We think that the time of weapons of mass destruction, having a say in, or determining the course of, political or human relations is in the past. It is finished. And in the very near future, these existing arsenals are going to become useless. All nations very much abhor war, killing, and bloodshed."

"There are only a few big powers that want to speed up the arms race, and of course, the reason they are interested in this is to line their own pockets. Today, the age of thinking, of cultural exchanges and endeavors has dawned. What we desperately need is better human interaction, peace, justice, pens people in the media, for example, that work for the greater good. These are the factors that contribute to or bring about happiness and well-being."

"Bombs do not provide prosperity. The money that is spent on armaments should rightfully be spent on better welfare, for the development of our various societies, and also healthcare."

Q: "Iran has made impressive advances in the past two decades but in the energy field there are two critical weaknesses. You have a lack of refining capability, so you import gasoline. And you also don't have the technology to liquefy gas. While accepting that Iran has every right to pursue nuclear energy, wouldn't the goal of energy security, at least in the medium term, be better served by investing your money on refineries and doing research on LNG technology rather than nuclear fuel enrichment?

A: "These two do not create any impositions on each other. The experts who have been involved in the fields (you mention) must do a better job. And of course we have approached them, to be much quicker."

"These are two parallel endeavors, and one does not translate into any obstacles in the way of the other. Can one say that a country which desperately requires greater amounts of energy must ignore healthcare cover? Or ignore such issues as aerodynamics, lasers or state-of-the-art medical services? There are different branches of technology and science. It is very natural for a country to progress more in one branch than another."