Fury At Iran President's 9/11 Speech Share21 Share Comments (127)
10:27am UK, Friday September 24, 2010
Katie Cassidy, Sky News Online
US delegates stormed out of a UN summit after Iran's president claimed the September 11 attacks may have been the work of America to save Israel.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said questions remained about the 2001 attacks and called for an "independent fact-finding group" to be established.
He offered three theories about the day's events - and it was his last suggestion that prompted the Americans to leave the auditorium in New York.
The Iranian leader said "most people" believe '9/11' was the work of a terrorist group backed by the US government.
He said the theory was "that some segments within the US government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy... and also to save the Zionist regime (Israel)".
Half way through the Iranian's speech the sound of a large door slamming shut resounded throughout the UN assembly.
Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall
His comments came just hours after US President Barack Obama stood at the same podium and offered an extended hand to Iran, urging the country "walk through the door of diplomacy".
After the Iranian president's speech, a spokesman for the US mission to the UN reacted angrily to the 9/11 claims.
Mark Kornblau said: "Rather than representing the aspirations and goodwill of the Iranian people, Mr Ahmadinejad has yet again chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic slurs that are as abhorrent and delusional as they are predictable."
Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said the Iranian president went further than he had before.
"The Americans know that what he's actually said to the UN, to a global audience, 'I think - and I represent my country - the American government murdered 3,000 of its own citizens in order to save' what he calls the Zionist entity.
The United States and the international community seek a resolution to our differences with Iran, and the door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it.
US President Barack Obama
"If you're talking about the reaction of Americans, it will harden their attitude towards Iran on the nuclear issue.
"That allows the American administration, if and when it wants to take a harder line, it makes it easier for them.
"You cannot rule out, somewhere down the line, patience is going to run out and there is going to be some sort of military action."
Mr Ahmadinejad also spoke of the sanctions imposed on his country by the UN over Tehran's refusal to stop enriching uranium.
"Some members of the Security Council have equated nuclear energy with nuclear bombs," he said.
Instead, he accused the US of building up its nuclear arsenal instead of dismantling it.
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Friday, September 24th 2010 at 10:53AM
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