Ahmadinejad: ‘I was Almost Kidnapped by Bush’

The USG Open Source Center translates an article in Tabnak saying that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is alleging that the US had planned to abduct him when he visited Baghdad in March, but that the plan was foiled. Ahmadinejad is also said to have alleged that Bush sought to attack Iran twice recently, but was forestalled by the opposition of his own officer corps.

Iran’s President Discloses US ‘Calculated Plan’ For His Abduction in Iraq
Tabnak Online
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Document Type: OSC Translated Text

A Tabnak correspondent has reported: During a meeting today with members of the Qom Theological Lecturers Association, our country’s president has disclosed that a US plan to abduct him in Iraq and transfer him to the US has failed.

According to one of the lecturers present at the meeting, Dr Ahmadinezhad added: Simultaneous with my visit to Iraq, the Americans intended to carry out a calculated plan to abduct me and transfer me to the US so that they could use the issue of terrorism as an excuse to blackmail the Islamic Republic.

The president continued: Despite this, praise be to God, the changes which were made to my travel schedule spoilt their plan. They were taken by surprise and realized what had happened when I was flying back to Iran. This was whilst we didn’t even visit the Green Zone, which is Baghdad’s safest area. The interesting point is that Bush, the US president, hasn’t even stayed overnight in Iraq.

Elsewhere, the president said: Twice, Bush made a serious decision to attack Iran this year and last year. However, this country failed to take such action due to opposition from its military commanders.

The president said that attacking Iran had become Bush’s obsession, and added: He even proposed to his advisors that they attack one or two Iranian cities. However, after the advisors disagreed, he called for Iran’s sound barrier to be broken. But, every time Bush’s advisors and military commanders stressed that any attack on Iran would create a hell which would be against US interests.

He stressed: God willing, US officials will take this wish to the grave with them.

(Description of Source: Tehran Tabnak Online in Persian — is a conservative Persian website replacing the banned Baztab. It is believed to be associated with the former IRGC commander and the Expediency Discernment Council Secretary Major General Mohsen Reza’i. URL: https://www.tabnak.ir)