Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he is "not afraid" of an Israeli strike on Iran´s nuclear programs in an interview with the television channel France 24 on Wednesday.

He said that only Israel wants to attack Iran, but that the West does not and if the "Zionist regime" does not "attack Iran, there is no problem."

Ahmadinejad hit back at demands that Iran cease enriching uranium to 20%, claiming that 20% enriched uranium was no more threatening than 3.5% enriched uranium.

He posed a question to the West as to why it was pressuring Iran about 20% enriched uranium when western nations already have the atom bomb. In that light Ahmadinejad asked "who is more dangerous," Iran or the West?

The Iranian president refused to answer the question as to whether Iran would recognize Israel if the Palestinians and Israel´s other Arab neighbors recognized it.

Avoiding the question, he merely responded that the issue should be decided by the Palestinian people.

Regarding Syria, he said that western governments should not interpret the events. We know that they have their own interests and are against Syrian President Bashar Assad. We cannot trust them because their goal is to push him out of power.

The Iranian president also denied sending any weapons to Syria in violation of sanctions.

Ahmadinejad denied that he suffered any political defeat in the recent Iranian elections, claiming that there were no political candidates specifically linked to him, despite media reports that his political allies were handily defeated by Supreme Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Kamenei´s allies. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 05/30/12)