Diplomats from the United States and Europe walked out of
the U.N. General Assembly Thursday amid a strident address by Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader blamed Western powers for world
problems, and questioned the Holocaust and circumstances of the 9-11 terrorist
attacks.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during the 66th session
of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters,
September 22, 2011.
On the eve of the Iranian president's speech, Iran released
two American hikers imprisoned for two years in a move welcomed by the White
House. But any goodwill generated by the gesture may have been swept away by
the Ahmadinejad policy speech.
In it, he blamed Western powers for a catalogue of world ills including slavery,
the two world wars, drug trafficking and the imposition of authoritarian regimes
in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Ahmadinejad's U.N. speech, his fifth since assuming power in 2005, was probably
his most controversial and triggered what has become an annual walkout by
Western delegates including the mid-level U.S. diplomats present when the speech
began.
He made no mention of current policy issues such as Iran's controversial nuclear
program, instead attacking what he termed arrogant Western powers. He is heard
through an interpreter.
"They tolerate no questions or criticism and instead of presenting a reason for
their violations, they always put themselves in the position of a claimant," he
said. "By using their imperialistic media network, which is under the influence
of colonialism, they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and September
11th with sanctions and military action."
The Iranian president, who at the U.N. last year called for an investigation of
so-called "hidden elements" of the 2001 attacks, suggested Osama bin Laden had
been killed by U.S. forces last May to foreclose an inquiry.
"Instead of assigning a fact-finding team, they killed the
main perpetrator and threw his body into the sea," he said. "Would it not have
been reasonable to bring to justice and try openly the main perpetrator of the
incidents in order to identify the elements and reason behind the safe-space
provided for the invading aircraft to attack the twin world trade towers?
The Iranian president, who did not mention Israel by name, said Western leaders
treat Zionism as a sacred notion, and said any question about the Jewish state's
founding and history is seen as an unforgivable offense.
Reacting to the speech, the spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the U.N. said
Ahmadinejad had a chance to address his own people's aspirations for freedom and
dignity, but instead again turned to abhorrent anti-Semitic slurs and despicable
conspiracy theories.
In a New York Times interview Thursday, Ahmadinejad again denied his
country has nuclear weapons ambitions, and said it would halt uranium enrichment
if world powers provided the 20-percent enriched uranium he said Iran needs for
domestic power production.
The European Union said Wednesday it was prepared to resume without
pre-conditions the nuclear talks with Iran that broke down in January. The
International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has failed to provide sufficient
evidence that its program is entirely peaceful.
