LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Ahmadinejad appeared bored when the topic of Iran's nuclear program and the possibility of impending war, he said he would much rather be talking about his vision of what the next world order might be.

His vision is one in which the U.S. and the traditional powers play a smaller role and every country has equal standing - with the exception of Israel.

"God willing, a new order will come and will do away with ... everything that distances us," Ahmadinejad told The Associated Press this week. Speaking through a translator, Ahmadinejad said that "All of the animosity, all of the lack of sincerity will come to an end. It will institute fairness and justice.

"Now even elementary school kids throughout the world have understood that the United States government is following an international policy of bullying," he said. "I do believe the system of empires has reached the end of the road. The world can no longer see an emperor commanding it."

Held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, it was Ahmadinejad's last as president of Iran.

Addressing the Syrian civil war, he dismissed the question of Iran's nuclear ambition and claimed that despite Western sanctions, his country is far better off than it was when he took office in 2005.

U.S. President Barack Obama had warned Iran that time is running out to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program in his speech to the General Assembly. Obama has made it clear that the U.S. could not tolerate an Iran with atomic weapons.

Ahmadinejad would not respond directly to the president's remarks, saying he did not want to influence the U.S. presidential election in November. He dismissed the outcry over his country's nuclear enrichment program as merely an excuse by the West to dominate his country. He claimed that the United States has never accepted Iran's choice of government after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"Everyone is aware the nuclear issue is the imposition of the will of the United States," he said. "I see the nuclear issue as a non-issue. It has become a form of one-upmanship."

Ahmadinejad says he favors more dialogue, even though negotiations with world powers remain stalled after three rounds of high-level meetings since April.

He said some world leaders have advised that Iran would be better off holding nuclear talks only with the United States.

"Of course I am not dismissing such talks," he said, asked if he were open to discussions with the winner of the American presidential election.

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