US delegates walk out of Ahmadinejad UN summit speech

The US delegation walked out of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech to the United Nations today after he said some in the world have speculated that Americans were actually behind the September 11 terror attacks, staged in an attempt to assure Israel’s survival.

He did not explain the logic of the statement, which was made as he attacked the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Iranian leader spoke of threats to burn the Koran by a small American church in Florida to mark the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. Although that church backed down, several copycat burnings were posted on the internet and broadcast in the Muslim world.

He briefly touched on the four sets of sanctions imposed on his country by the United Nations over Tehran’s refusal to stop enriching uranium and to prove Iran is not trying to build an atomic bomb.

Some members of the Security Council have “equated nuclear energy with nuclear bombs”, Mr Ahmadinejad said.

He accused the United States of building up its nuclear arsenal instead of dismantling it and reiterated his call for a nuclear-free world.