Ahmadinejad dismisses US election as a 'battleground for the capitalists'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed America's $2 billion presidential election as a “battleground for the capitalists” and “an excuse for hasty spending” during a speech at the Bali Democracy Forum on Thursday, The Associated Press reports.

Ahmadinejad is in Indonesia trying to shore up support for his country, which is under a U.S.-led international embargo over its alleged nuclear weapons program. The Iranian leader used the forum to once again call for direct talks between the United States and Iran on a “wide range of issues,” an approach the Obama administration has rejected in favor of focusing on the nuclear program.

“We believe in friendly relations between nations and governments and Iran welcomes any relations based on justice and mutual respect,” he said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. “It should be investigated that who and why severed ties with Iran 33 years ago.”

President Obama's reelection is widely seen as offering a new chance for multi-party talks to work before the United States considers possible military action against Iran. The negotiating block formed by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, France and Great Britain — and Germany is expected to restart negotiations with Iran this month or next after they stalled over the summer.

Israel has warned that it will not accept Iran gaining the capacity to build a nuclear weapon and could take action unilaterally if Iran is seen as stalling for time.

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