|
By Claudia Parsons
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed against "Zionist
murderers" in a speech to the United Nations on Tuesday and
vowed to resist American bullying and defend Iran's right to
nuclear power.
In an address that opened with a long
discourse on God, justice and morality, Ahmadinejad said a
small number of "deceitful Zionists" were manipulating
Americans and Europeans.
Ahmadinejad, who has said in the past
Israel should be wiped off the map, said there was growing
resistance in the world to the aggression of "bullying
powers," a phrase he used repeatedly to refer to the United
States and its allies.
"Today, the Zionist regime is on a
definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to
get out of the cesspool created by itself and its
supporters," he said, referring to Israel.
"American empire in the world is reaching
the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their
interference to their own borders," Ahmadinejad said.
He repeatedly referred to what he
described as Zionist control over international "financial
and monetary centers," a widely discredited accusation that
is often associated with anti-Semitism.
The Iranian president reiterated that
Tehran's nuclear program was entirely peaceful and said Iran
was cooperating fully with the United Nations atomic
watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy
Agency.
The IAEA said earlier this month that Iran
was not cooperating enough with its inspectors.
"A few bullying powers have sought to put
hurdles in the way of the peaceful nuclear activities of the
Iranian nation by exerting political and economic pressures
against Iran, and also through threatening and pressuring
the IAEA," Ahmadinejad said.
"The great Iranian people ... will resist
the bullying, and has defended and will defend its rights,"
Ahmadinejad said.
"The Iranian nation is for dialogue. But
it has not accepted and will not accept illegal demands," he
said.
The U.N. Security Council has demanded
Iran suspend enrichment of uranium and imposed three rounds
of sanctions on Tehran.
The United States is leading a drive for
more sanctions over Iran's continued defiance of the
resolutions, though Russian opposition makes it unlikely new
penalties would be approved anytime soon.
Iran says it is enriching uranium for
nuclear power plants and has vowed to continue doing so.
Israel, which is believed to be the only
nuclear-armed country in the Middle East, views Iran's
nuclear program as an existential threat.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was
among several speakers earlier on Tuesday who called on Iran
to act on the Security Council resolutions and cooperate
more with the IAEA.
|
