Interviewed on Piers Morgan Tonight, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad equates homosexuality to stealing and tells the presenter that being gay is ugly.

When Morgan asked if Mr Ahmadinejad if he could publicly accept homosexuality as people are born gay, the president turned the tables on the presenter and asked: “do you believe that people are born homosexual?” Morgan, who also judges Americas Got Talent replied: “yes, I absolutely believe that”.

Mr Ahmadinejad responded: “I’m sorry. Let me ask you this. Do you believe that anyone is giving birth through homosexuality? Homosexuality ceases procreation. Who has said that if you like or believe in doing something ugly, and others do not accept your behavior, that they’re denying your freedom? Perhaps in a country they wish to legitimise stealing.”

When asked by Morgan what he would do if his son told him he was gay, Mr Ahmadinejad, who has two sons said: “Proper education must be given … the education system must be revamped. The political system must be revamped. And these must be also reformed, revamped along the way. But if you, if a group recognizes an ugly behavior or ugly deed as legitimate, you must not expect other countries or other groups to give it the same recognition.”

In 2007, during a World Leaders Forum, Mr Ahmadinejad told students at Columbia University: “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals”.

Earlier this month, a state-sponsored newspaper in Iran has published a document claiming to have uncovered a secret plot by the Jewish people, particularly in the US and UK, to spread homosexuality worldwide.