Many UN members walk out after yet another Ahmadinejad diatribe

Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again triggered a walkout by Western countries at the United Nations following a blistering attack against the United States and Israel at a nuclear non-proliferation conference of the United Nations in New York. Ahmadinejad called for the US to be dismissed from the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency for "threatening non-nuclear states". In a 35-minute speech Ahmadinejad – who was the only head of state to attend the conference – berated the Obama administration for menacing other countries and accused it of hypocrisy for supporting Israel.

"The Zionist regime continues to threaten other nations with terror and invasion and its nuclear program is assisted," he declared. The delegates of Australia, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United States boycotted his speech or left the General Assembly Hall when Ahmadinejad launched his diatribe.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was not present during the Iranian leader’s speech, but afterwards held a bilateral meeting with him, apparently at the request of Ahmadinejad. Ban urged Iran to restore trust with the international community.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, who was not in the room during Ahmadinejad’s speech, said: "We are extremely disappointed in his statement. He had a wonderful opportunity ... to dispel certain doubts around Iran's intentions. It was the same speech, the same aggressive tone. Nothing in here would indicate that Iran wants to conform to what over 100 countries have been able to do."

Unlike Israel, Iran is among 189 signatories of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). With non-proliferation and the downsizing of nuclear arsenals key goals of President Barack Obama, the UN conference is better to check the spread of nuclear weapons and bring about their gradual elimination.

The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, opened the NPT Review Conference by saying that Iran had failed to provide "necessary cooperation" with the IAEA. "In the case of Iran, the agency continues to verify the non- diversion of declared nuclear material, but remains unable to confirm that all nuclear material is in peaceful activity because Iran has not provide the necessary cooperation," he said. "I continue to request Iran to take steps towards the full implementation of its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and relevant resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors and the United Nations Security Council, and to clarify activities with a possible military dimension," Amano added.

Outside the UN compound, American politicians and Jewish leaders held a rally against Ahmadinejad.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who addressed the UN conference a few hours after the Iranian leader, lambasted the regime in Tehran for "flouting the rules" and for its failure to comply with the NPT and with international demands concerning its nuclear program. Clinton also revealed that the United States possesses 5,113 nuclear warheads. That number was until now a closely kept secret. After Clinton’s speech, the Pentagon said that figure had plummeted from a peak of 31,255 in 1967. “We think it is in our national security interest to be as transparent as we can about the nuclear program of the United States,” Clinton told reporters. “We think that builds confidence.”