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Western Nations Walk Out During Iranian Leader's UN Speech

22.09.2011 19:26

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.S. delegation to the United Nations led a mass walkout in the General Assembly today after Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad delivered a fiercely anti-American speech.

Ahmadinejad accused the United States of a long list of grievances, including slavery, wars, use of nuclear weapons, and support for military dictatorships and totalitarian regimes in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

For the seventh year in a row, Ahmadinejad used the annual UN forum to publicly question the 2001 terror attack on the United States, referring to it as the "mysterious September 11 accident." He also called it a "pretext" for the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a general blast at the West, he said, "Hypocrisy and deceit are allowed in order to secure their interests and imperialistic goal."

The Iranian leader, who has before called for the destruction of Israel, also described the Jewish Holocaust as an "excuse to pay fine and ransom to the Zionists."

About halfway into the 30-minute speech, the American delegation rose from their seats and left the hall. Delegations from more than two dozen Western nations followed.

One French diplomat tweeted "unacceptable" before he left the hall.

The German delegation said it left the assembly because of the "crude, anti-American, anti-Israeli, and anti-West tirade by the Iranian president."

The White House dismissed the Iranian leader's remarks and accused Tehran of the "vile mistreatment" of its own citizens.

President Barack Obama's spokesman, Jay Carney, told reporters, "I find it rich that the Iranian president would have such criticism."

As Ahmadinejad spoke, more than 1,000 people outside the UN held a protest again him and the Iranian government.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ahmadinejad_iran_un_speech/24337065.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.