Iran ? Iran’s hardline president said Monday he would welcome direct talks with the U.S. if both parties are on equal footing, adding such talks could happen “in the near future.”

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not say whether any definite plans for such talks were under way.

“We will hold talks with the United States if they come to us on equal footing,” Ahmadinejad said in a live speech on state TV.

Ahmadinejad also said he will attend the next U.N. General Assembly in New York in September in order to defend Iran’s rights and propose changes to what he called the “unjust” Western system of administering international organizations. Ahmadinejad has attended every annual U.N. General Assembly meeting since he was elected in 2005.