Ahmadinejad says Iran, U.S. not headed for war

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a U.S. television interview on Sunday that Iran did not need nuclear weapons and his country was not heading for war with the United States.

Ahmadinejad was speaking before traveling to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Plans for him to speak at New York's Columbia University have drawn protests from some who say the university should not give a platform to a Holocaust denier accused by Washington of supporting terrorism.

Asked whether Iran's goal was to obtain a nuclear bomb, Ahmadinejad told the CBS program "60 Minutes" that the answer was a "firm no."

"You have to appreciate we don't need a nuclear bomb. We don't need that. What need do we have for a bomb?" he said in the interview, recorded on Thursday in Tehran.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civil nuclear program. Iran denies both allegations.

Asked whether Iran and the United States were heading toward conflict over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, he said: "It's wrong to think that Iran and the U.S. are walking toward war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing."

In an interview with Al Jazeera television the head of U.S. Central Command, Adm. William Fallon, also seemed keen to tone down the rhetoric. Asked if a war was on the cards, Fallon said: "No. I certainly hope not ... This constant drumbeat of conflict strikes me as not helpful and not useful."

Fallon's remarks to Al Jazeera were dubbed into Arabic.