Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sharpening his conflict with the U.S., declared Iran's nuclear program a “closed'' matter and an issue that should be left to the United Nations nuclear-watchdog agency.
“I officially announce that in our opinion the nuclear issue of Iran is now closed and has turned into an ordinary'' matter of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Ahmadinejad told the world body in a 35-minute address.
Ahmadinejad, dismissing the authority of the UN Security Council by calling it “ineffective,'' and a tool of “arrogant powers,'' was trying to forestall efforts by the U.S. to rally support in that body for a third round of sanctions. The diplomatic effort is aimed at punishing Iran for continuing to enrich uranium.
The U.S. says Iran's nuclear program is a cover for the development of an atomic bomb. Iran denies the allegation, saying it is intended for electricity generation.
Foreign ministers from the permanent five members of the Security Council plus Germany are set to meet Sept. 28 in New York to discuss new sanctions on Iran, the Middle East's second- largest oil producer.
IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, at odds with the U.S., this month called for a simultaneous suspension of the UN Security Council's sanctions against Iran and the country's uranium-enrichment activities.
U.S. Criticism
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sharply criticized ElBaradei's efforts to stop another tranche of UN sanctions. “The IAEA is not in the business of diplomacy,'' Rice said en route to Jerusalem on Sept. 19. “The IAEA is a technical agency that has a board of governors, of which the United States is a member.''
Ahmadinejad, siding with ElBaradei, said “Iran decided to pursue the issue through its appropriate legal path, one that runs through the IAEA, and to disregard unlawful and political impositions by the arrogant powers.''
In a snub to Ahmadinejad, a note taker represented the U.S. in the General Assembly during Ahmadinejad's speech instead of Rice or another high-ranking diplomatic official.
Lashing out at the U.S., Ahmadinejad said, “certain powers'' are violating human rights, “especially those who pretend to be their exclusive advocates.'' Alluding to U.S. plans to build a missile shield in Europe, he said the U.S. was laying the ground for an “arms race.''
Invoking religion, Ahmadinejad called on the powers that have shown hostility to Iran “to return from the path of arrogance and obedience to Satan to the path of faith in God.''
