Middle Eastern nations can lead world - Ahmadinejad

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the countries of the Middle East have the potential to turn into the world's political and economic powerhouses, Press TV reports.

“If all the countries in the Middle East join hands, they can take control of the major political and economic centers in the world, as they have the required potential and facilities” to achieve the objective, President Ahmadinejad said at a meeting on Thursday with a group of Egyptian female activists and intellectuals in the Iranian capital city, Tehran.

The Iranian president underlined: “Poverty and injustice will definitely be eliminated if the regional and world nations unite, however, the enemies make efforts to cause rifts among nations in order to achieve their evil objectives.”

Ahmadinejad described the popular uprisings across the Arab world and the spreading global anti-capitalism movements as “an historic opportunity to salvage humanity” so nations could proceed to eradicate inequalities and establish justice in the world.