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US, western nations walk out on Ahmadinejad’s UN speech

The U.S. delegation left as Ahmadinejad referred to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon as a pretext for U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 (Itar-Tass) —— The U.S. delegation and other western nations walked out of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday as Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered his address.

The U.S. delegation left as Ahmadinejad referred to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon as a pretext for U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other western delegations followed shortly thereafter.

The Iranian president also said the United States and its allies “view Zionism as a sacred notion and ideology.”

“By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military actions,” Ahmadinejad said.

Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the U.S. mission at the United Nations, condemned the remarks and said in a statement: “Mr Ahmadinejad had a chance to address his own people's aspirations for freedom and dignity, but instead he again turned to abhorrent anti-Semitic slurs and despicable conspiracy theories.”