Iran's Ahmadinejad Denounces 'Bullying Powers' in UN Address | Voice of America - English
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday that a few "bullying" world powers are trying to thwart what he says is his country's peaceful nuclear program. He spoke only a few hours after President Bush told the forum Iran's nuclear ambitions are a threat to world civilization. VOA's David Gollust reports from our U.N.
The Iranian leader sounded a defiant tone at theUnited Nations, where preliminary consultations have been held on apossible fourth sanctions resolutions against Tehran in the SecurityCouncil because of its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Mr.Ahmadinejad, in a policy address heavy with religious references, saidIran like other countries has an "inalienable" right to peacefulnuclear energy but said a few bullying world powers have tried tothwart Iran's program through political and economic pressure. TheInternational Atomic Energy Agency recently released a report detailingIranian non-cooperation with its effort to determine if Tehran has asecret nuclear weapons program. But the Iranian President, said his government has fully cooperated withIAEA inspectors, who he said should redirect their scrutiny to theworld's declared nuclear powers: "The Iranian nation is fordialogue. But it has not accepted and will not accept illegal demands.The time has come for the IAEA to present a clear report to theinternational community on its monitoring of the disarmament of thenuclear powers and their nuclear activities, and for a disarmamentcommittee to be established by independent states to monitor thedisarmament of these nuclear powers," he said. No senior U.S.diplomats were present in the General Assembly hall for Mr.Ahmadinejad's speech though the Iranian president and other officialsattended President Bush's speech earlier in the day. In it,Mr. Bush said Iran is among the few remaining countries that sponsorterrorism and said its nuclear program, along with that of North Korea,demands world attention. "We must remain vigilant against proliferation- by fully implementing the terms of Security Council resolution 1540and enforcing sanctions against North Korea and Iran. We must notrelent until our people are safe from this threat to civilization," hesaid. Iran has refused to accept a big-power offer of economicand diplomatic incentives to halt a uranium enrichment program believedby the United States and European allies to be weapons related. Secretaryof State Condoleezza Rice had been expected to meet foreign ministercolleagues from the five permanent U.N. Security Council membercountries and Germany in New York on Thursday to discuss a possible newsanctions resolution against Tehran. However, a State Departmentspokesman said late Tuesday the meeting would not be held. He did notelaborate but the Russian foreign ministry said in Moscow it saw nourgent need to schedule such a meeting amid the heavy volume of otherbusiness of the new General Assembly session. U.S.-Russian relations have been tense in recent weeks amid sharp American criticism of Moscow's intervention in Georgia. Bushadministration officials have said there is a big power consensus for anew sanctions resolution despite the Georgia disagreement, thoughRussian President Dmitry Medvedev said last week new sanctions were"untimely." Mr. Ahmadinejad's U.N. address, his fourth sincetaking office in 2005, again included scathing references to Israel,which he referred to as the Zionist regime, and which he said is onwhat he termed "a definite slope to collapse." In a new theme,the Iranian President also asserted, what he termed, "the Americanempire is reaching the end of its road." He said in earlier interviewswith U.S. media outlets that the current Wall Street financial crisisstems from the economic burden of years of heavy U.S. militaryinvolvement around the world.