“Towards the end of summer we will hopefully be there for the United  Nation General Assembly and i will be ready for one- on- one talks with Mr. Obama in front of the media of course,” Ahmadinejad told a conference of Iranian expatriates in Tehran. “We will offer solution for the world’s issues to see whose solutions are better.”

The proposal comes as Iran deals with a new wave of international sanctions driven by Washington aimed at putting pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear programme. Ahmadenejad suggested such a debate last September, which was not taken up by Washington he said Obama predecessor, George W Bush, had declined similar invitation because he was “scared”

Iran says its nuclear programme is a peaceful bid to produce electricity. But its uranium enrichment activities, a process which can have both civilian and military uses, has fed fears in some countries that it is trying to build a nuclear weapon.

In his speech, the president mocked the sanctions and the potential for a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, an option the US and Israel say they do not rule out.