Reuters, Tokyo, 08 July 2008 (Excerpts) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at the Group of Eight wealthy nations in a letter to a newspaper on Tuesday, saying their policies would “accelerate them along the road to a precipice,” and reiterated he would not accept demands to halt uranium enrichment.

The comments came in a letter contributed to Japan’s best-selling broadsheet Yomiuri newspaper as the eight nations held their annual summit on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Ahmadinejad also responded to written questions, maintaining his insistence that Iran would not accept “illegitimate demands” to stop its uranium enrichment program, the Yomiuri said.

Last month, six major world powers offered a package of economic incentives in return for a halt to Tehran’s nuclear activities.

In his letter, Ahmadinejad said the world had entered an era of fundamental change, ending a world order controlled by a single powerful nation.

“They (the Group of Eight members) may imagine they can solve their own problems without respecting others or paying any attention to their interests. But this attitude is just a series of failures that will accelerate them along the road to a precipice,” he added.