Ahmadinejad denies aiding Taliban, wants US and NATO forces out of Afghanistan

London, July 27 (ANI): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied allegations that the nation is aiding the Taliban in its fight against the Afghan Government and the US-led coalition troops.

"We do not support any group, we just and only support the Afghan people and want to strengthen security in the country," he told CBS News in an interview.

"The root cause is related to the intervention of the United States and NATO and we think Afghan people should run their own country," he added.

Leaked US documents had implicated Iran for its involvement in training and arming the Taliban in Afghanistan. The documents released by a website 'Wikileaks' have claimed that besides, Pakistan, Iranian officials train and supply arms and ammunitions to the Taliban.

He further warned the European Union against imposing sanctions against his country, saying that Iran possess a huge population with vast and rich resources to overcome old problems.

"I think the policies by the Europeans and the Americans are ridiculous. They think they are going to influence the life of the Iranian society. In fact, they're imposing sanctions against themselves," Ahmadinejad said.

"Iran is a great nation with a great population. We have vast and rich resources and it's very much easy for us to overcome old problems," he added.

Meanwhile, the European Union again intensified the economic isolation of Iran over its nuclear program by ordering its toughest economic sanctions against the Iranian government on Monday.

Although European companies will still be allowed to import oil and gas from Iran, the sanctions go beyond those in the fourth round imposed by the United Nations in June 2010. The European move follows the imposition of additional sanctions by the United States. (ANI)