Protesters decry Ahmadinejad as he speaks at UN

protesters in front of UN headquarters

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave his UN speech while a widespread rally in front of UN headquarters was shouting out slogans denying the legitimacy of his presidency and charging him with the death and torture of protesters in Iran. Footage of protesters was posted on the New York Times blog The Lede showing protesters with green clothes and balloons, the colour symbolizing the opposition in Iran.

Mr. Ahmadinejad described the June elections in Iran which secured him his second term of presidency as “free and grand,” and the system of the Islamic Republic as “one of the most popular and progressive regime’s of the world.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s claims were in stark contradiction to the shouts of protesters outside the UN building and the tens of thousands of protesters that marched the streets of Iran only last Friday, accusing the government of staging a fraudulent election and violating rights of its citizens.

While many seats at the General Assembly were empty, representatives of Canada, Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and US also left the room during Ahmadihejad’s 40-minute speech as it turned to the topic of Israel.

In finality he claimed to achieve world peace the world has to await the return of the twelfth Imam of Shiites and Jesus Christ.