World Leaders Walk out Ahead of Iranian President's Remarks at UN
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to address the United Nations General Assembly today and the world waits to hear just what issues the Iranian leader plans to address, but some political leaders are boycotting his appearance, anticipating that Ahmadinejad will only repeat his anti-Israel or anti-U.S. statements.
Some of Ahmadinejad’s most infamous comments at the General Assembly include a 2010 address that suggested that the United States orchestrated the 9/11 attacks so as to insure the survival of Israel.
In 2009, the leader suggested that the Holocaust did not happen and that it was only believed by those that wanted to create a pretext for occupying Palestinian lands, and in 2008 Ahmadinejad said that Israel was a "Zionist regime" and American was a "bullying power."
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Furthermore, in 2006, Ahmadinejad questioned America's nuclear arsenal saying, "What (does the U.S.) need these weapons for? Is the development and stockpiling of these deadly weapons designed to promote peace and democracy?"
This year, some delegates are already refusing to give Ahmadinejad an audience at the General Assembly meeting, with Canada's representative boycotting Ahmadinejad's speech.
In prior years, countries such as the United States, Australia, and Canada have been present for Ahmadinejad's annual speech, but in years past, they have walked out when Ahmadinejad began with statements that were anti-Western and anti-Israel.
The Toronto Sun reports, "Last year, Canadian and American diplomats lasted a few minutes and left when Ahmadinejad began trotting out the theory that the U.S. government and not radical Islamic terrorists were responsible for 9/11."
New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof recently held an interview with the Iranian leader in which Kristof described the interview as beginning with an olive branch, stating that Ahmadinejad started with, "I would like to, with your permission, greet all of your readers as well as Web viewers and wish all of them the success and blessings of the Almighty."
However, the positivity subsided towards the end of the Kristof's interview with Ahmadinejad when the leader added that in the near future the West will be driven by its financial and political weakness to "seek rapprochement with Iran."
Now, it remains to be seen what issues Ahmadinejad wishes to address in his upcoming speech at the U.N. Thursday, but one thing is for certain, the world is expecting a level of controversy that may or may not pan out.
