Iran Leader's First U.N. Speech Has a Pretty Clear Target

Los Angeles Times:

By Tyler Marshall

Times Staff Writer

September 15, 2005

UNITED NATIONS — In his first speech before the United Nations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday launched a thinly veiled attack on the United States, then proposed steps to counter America's weight in the world body.

Despite speculation that Iran's archconservative new leader might offer proposals aimed at reviving stalled negotiations about the fate of Tehran's nuclear program, Ahmadinejad ignored the issue completely, choosing instead to attack the West — albeit not by name.

As he spoke, 2,000 opponents of Tehran's fundamentalist Islamic regime shouted slogans, whistled and waved Iranian flags in a park across the street from U.N. headquarters in New York. If the General Assembly chamber had windows, the Iranian leader could have seen a large yellow-and-black banner that read, "Nuclear Terrorist Ahmadinejad."

Although his opening remarks included condolences and sympathy for those affected by Hurricane Katrina, any hint of warmth toward the U.S. ended there. The Iranian leader called for an end to the disproportionate influence within the world body enjoyed by countries with "greater power and wealth" and decried the absence of a Muslim country as a permanent member of the Security Council.

Ahmadinejad labeled the doctrine of preemption — the Bush administration policy that calls for striking an adversary before it gains the capability to launch its own attack — a "blatant contradiction to the very foundations of the United Nations and the letter and spirit of its charter."

His decision to not raise the issue of Iran's nuclear program was viewed as one more hint that Tehran might no longer be interested in negotiating with the West. Talks with three European Union member states broke down last month after Tehran said it would end an agreed-upon freeze of its program, which Western nations believe is linked to arms development.

So far, there seems to be little enthusiasm in the international community for Security Council sanctions against Iran."I believe the Iranians have calculated they have nothing really to fear if it comes to the Security Council," said Reuel Marc Gerecht, an Iran specialist at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.