In New York UN delegates walk out on Ahmadinejad speech

24 September 2009

With tirades against Israel and anti-Semitic canards, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triggered a walk-out by many delegates and faced a half-empty hall as he wound up his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. Ahmadinejad criticized the “barbaric attack by Zionist regime on Gaza”, spoke of a “genocide in Palestine”, and alleged that a “small minority” of people [an indirect reference to Jews] was “dominating much of the world through a complicated network". He accused it of seeking to "establish a new form of slavery, harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions.”

The representatives of Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, the United States and others (mainly EU countries) heeded a call by the World Jewish Congress and other groups and left the room when Ahmadinejad launched his stinging accusations against Israel. The Canadian and Israeli governments did not wait until then and had not delegates in the assembly hall during the Iranian president’s speech. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters in Ottawa: “"There is no way I am going to permit any official of the government of Canada to be present and give any legitimacy to remarks by a leader like that." Ministers and senior diplomats of other Western countries condemned Ahmadinejad's speech as "unacceptable".

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder welcomed the walkout. “The message has rung loud and clear that most UN member states are not prepared to tolerate Ahmadinejad’s anti-Semitism any longer,” he said. Earlier, the WJC had petitioned all UN members to boycott the Iranian president’s speech, in order to send a strong message. People from 192 different countries  lent their support to the WJC’s call, and many wrote to their UN ambassadors to call for a walkout.

Ahmadinejad defended the contested presidential elections of June as "glorious and fully democratic" and said his government was one of the most "democratic and progressive in the world."

In her speech to the General Assembly, prior to that of Ahmadinejad, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner again appealed to Iran to extradite the suspects in the AMIA bombing wanted by the judiciary in Buenos Aires.

Meanwhile, the were diplomatic developments on the nuclear issue as well. The Group of Six Nations – comprising Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – issued a statement on Wednesday night saying it expected a "serious response" from Iran on its nuclear program at the talks on 1 October in Geneva. In a television interview from New York, President Sarkozy of France set December as the deadline for Iran to suspend its nuclear program. He warned Tehran not to make "tragic mistake". After meeting with US President Barack Obama, President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia might support new sanctions on Iran. He called on Tehran to send out positive signals.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva defended Ahmadinejad and said he planned to visit Tehran next year. "I defend for Iran the same rights with respect to nuclear energy that I do for Brazil," he told reporters after his UN speech, adding "If anyone is ashamed of having relations with Iran, it’s not my case.”

In his speech, Ahmadinejad did not mention the nuclear program, but he told the ‘Washington Post’ that Iran was “ready to discuss some issues, including our willingness to purchase 20-percent-enriched uranium for our domestic needs” from the United States.