Ahmadinejad in Russia for meetings

YEKATERINBURG, Russia, June 16 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaimed the end of "the age of empires" Tuesday after flying to Russia to attend two summit meetings.

The president left Iran two days after being proclaimed the winner of a second term, while large demonstrations against the results were rocking the capital, Tehran. His supporters blame the unrest on the United States and other western countries.

Ahmadinejad is in Russia for meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRIC group, which includes four large emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India and China, Time magazine reported. Both are assembling this week in Yekaterinburg.

He said the West has been hit hard by the economic slump and by military debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"It is absolutely obvious that the age of empires has ended, and its revival will not take place," he said.

Ahmadinejad urged the SCO toward "collective decisions on economics, politics and culture."