Iran would defend itself if Israel were to attack it, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

“Any nation has the right and will indeed defend herself,” Ahmadinejad said speaking through a translator in a wide-ranging interview that aired Monday on CNN's “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

“Why should the world be managed in such a way that an individual can allow himself to threaten a rich and deeply rooted historical, ancient country such as Iran?” the Islamic Republic’s leader said.

“A great country, such as Iran, based on an excuse of his own fabrication. ... Another country can say, 'I am guessing that country B is doing activity X, therefore I will attack that country' ... can this be ... a successful formula for the management of the world?” he asked.

Ahmadinejad was apparently referring to Iran's controversial nuclear program that the West led by the United States fears is aimed at building nuclear weapons, which Iran fiercely denies.

Asked whether he believed a military conflict with Israel was imminent, Ahmadinejad said: "The Zionists are very much … adventuresome, very much seeking to fabricate things, and I think they see themselves at the end of the line and I do firmly believe that they seek to create new opportunities for themselves and their adventurous behaviors."