Ahmadinejad Insulted by Colombia University President, Says the Zionist Regime is Based on Occupation, Racism, and Threats

President addresses students at Colombia University

IRNA, September 25, 2007

Despite entire US media objections, negative propagation and hue and cry in recent days over IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's scheduled address at Colombia University, he gave his lecture and answered students questions here on Monday afternoon.

On second day of his entry in New York, and amid standing ovation of the audience that had attended the hall where the Iranian President was to give his lecture as of early hours of the day, Ahmadinejad said that Iran is not going to attack any country in the world.

Before President Ahamadinejad's address, Colombia University Chancellor in a brief address told the audience that they would have the chance to hear Iran's stands as the Iranian President would put them forth.

He said that the Iranians are a peace loving nation, they hate war, and all types of aggression.

Referring to the technological achievements of the Iranian nation in the course of recent years, the president considered them as a sign for the Iranians' resolute will for achieving sustainable development and rapid advancement.

The audience on repeated occasion applauded Ahmadinejad when he touched on international crises.

At the end of his address President Ahmadinejad answered the students' questions on such issues as Israel, Palestine, Iran's nuclear program, the status of women in Iran and a number of other matters.

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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Western media

Monday afternoon not to tell lies about Iran and come to see closely the existing situation in the country.

Speaking to the Washington-based US National Press Club in a video-conference from New York, the Iranian president said, "Iranians are the freest and the most intellectual nation in the world and are well informed of the daily news." "Those who claim there is no freedom in Iran should visit the country and freely talk to the people" so they could get a better understanding of the situation, said President Ahmadinejad who is here to address the United Nations General Assembly later on Tuesday.

Referring to the heavy burden carried by the mass media in the contemporary world, the president said, "Giving false information about Iran is far beyond the responsibility of mass media." As for women's status in Iran, President Ahmadinejad said, "Iranian women are freest in the world and engaged in different scientific, social, media, political and artistic activities.

"Women contribute to 60 percent of Iran's university students and win medals at the international sports fields," the president stressed.

Commenting on the issue of Iraq, he said that US wrong policies in the war-ravaged country have led to failure of US army operations in Iraq.

As for Israel, President Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran "will not recognize the Zionist regime as it was established based on occupation, racism and threats." "Why those who work in media do not protest to the Zionist regime for killing people and displacing them?" asked the president.

He further said Iran was opposed to the way that US dealt with the world.

"We are opposed to the way the US is managing the world considering it a wrong approach leading to war, discrimination and bloodshed," President Ahmadinejad stressed.

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Iranians condemn US reception of leader

By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press Writer

Sep 25, 2007, 11:30 AM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) --

Iranians on Tuesday called the combative introduction of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by the head of Columbia University "shameful" and said the harsh words only added to their image of the United States as a bully.

In a region where the tradition of hospitality outweighs personal opinions about people, many here thought Columbia University President Lee Bollinger's aggressive tone - including telling Ahmadinejad that he exhibited the signs of a "petty and cruel dictator" - was over the top.

"The surprising point of the last night meeting is the behavior of the university president," state-run radio reported, describing Bollinger's introduction as "full of insult, which was mostly Zionists' propaganda against Iran."

The chancellors of seven Iranian universities issued a letter on Tuesday to Bollinger saying his statements were "deeply shameful" and invited him to Iran.

In the letter, they asked him to respond to 10 questions ranging from: "Why did the U.S. support Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iraqi-imposed war on Iran?" to "Why has the U.S. military failed to find al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden even with all its advanced equipment?"

Ahmadinejad's visit to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly has created a stir and thousands have protested his there.

Despite calls to cancel Ahmadinejad's question-and-answer forum at Columbia, Bollinger said the hardline leader, known for his anti-Israel rhetoric, should be allowed to speak.

Ahmadinejad smiled at first in response to Bollinger's words, then decried the "insults" and "unfriendly treatment." In his speech, Ahmadinejad portrayed himself as an intellectual and argued that his administration respected reason and science. He even drew audience applause at times, such as when he bemoaned the plight of the Palestinians.

While Ahmadinejad likely expected at worst a hostile grilling by the audience, Bollinger's sardonic comments reflected a blatant disregard for the tradition of hospitality revered in the Middle East. His comments may deflect some of the U.S. criticism he got for issuing the invitation to the Iranian president, but it could also backfire by drawing sympathy for Ahmadinejad, even in quarters where he would normally be sharply criticized.

"I don't know why he (Ahmadinejad) stayed there and did not leave the meeting. Their attitude was an insult to the nature of the meeting. They should not treat him as a suspect," said Mahmoud Rouhi, a nurse, in Tehran. Though state media did not broadcast Monday's event live in Farsi, state-run TV showed a recorded version on Tuesday.

"The meeting and their approach showed that Americans, even in a cultural position, are cowboys and nothing more," said Rasoul Qaresi, shopping at a grocery store in Tehran.

Ahmadinejad's international allies have also taken his side. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is expecting a visit from Ahmadinejad later this week, said he spoke by phone with the Iranian leader on Monday after his tense showdown at Columbia.

"I congratulate him, in the name of the Venezuelan people, before a new aggression of the U.S. empire," Chavez said, adding that it seemed Ahmadinejad was the subject of "an ambush."

Ahmadinejad is set to address the U.N. General Assembly later Tuesday. Thousands of people protested Ahmadinejad's visit Monday and more were expected to rally in the streets Tuesday when the Iranian leader attends the meeting for the third time in three years.

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Ahmadinejad questions 9/11, Holocaust

By NAHAL TOOSI Associated Press Writer

Sep 25, 2007, 8:04 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) --

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is addressing the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday after defending Holocaust revisionists and raising questions about who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks in a tense showdown at Columbia University.

Thousands of people protested Ahmadinejad's visit Monday and more were expected to rally in the streets Tuesday when the Iranian leader attends the meeting for the third time in three years.

In his speech Tuesday afternoon, Ahmadinejad is expected to take the same conciliatory approach he did in an interview with The Associated Press and in other appearances on Monday. He presented his country as a reasonable seeker of peace and justice and denied that it holds any violent intentions against the United States, Israel, or any of its immediate neighbors.

He also denied all the chief accusations against Iran: that it is providing weapons to kill U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting terrorism or breaking international law by developing nuclear weapons.

Asked about his country's nuclear intentions during the appearance at Columbia on Monday, Ahmadinejad insisted the program is peaceful, legal and entirely within Iran's rights, despite attempts by "monopolistic," "selfish" powers to derail it. "How come is it that you have that right, and we can't have it?" he added.

Ahmadinejad portrayed himself as an intellectual and argued that his administration respected reason and science. But the former engineering professor, appearing shaken and irate over what he called "insults" from his host, soon found himself drawn into the type of rhetoric that has alienated American audiences in the past.

Columbia's president, Lee Bollinger, set the combative tone in his introduction of Ahmadinejad: "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."

Iranian state-run TV channels on Tuesday showed news reports of the Columbia event and called the introduction "impolite." The English version of the IRNA news agency said that despite "entire U.S. media objections, negative propagation" Ahmadinejad still had his lecture and answered questions.

Ahmadinejad drew audience applause at times, such as when he bemoaned the plight of the Palestinians. But he often declined to offer the simple answers the audience sought, responding instead with his own questions or long statements about history and justice.

Asked by an audience member if Iran sought the destruction of Israel, Ahmadinejad did not answer directly.

"We are friends of all the nations," he said. "We are friends with the Jewish people. There are many Jews in Iran living peacefully with security."

Ahmadinejad's past statements about the Holocaust also have raised hackles in the West, and were soundly attacked by Bollinger.

"In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as the fabricated legend," Bollinger told Ahmadinejad said in his opening remarks. "One year later, you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers."

Bollinger said that might fool the illiterate and ignorant.

"When you come to a place like this, it makes you simply ridiculous. The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history," he said.

Ahmadinejad said he wasn't passing judgment on whether the Holocaust occurred, but that, "assuming this happened, what does it have to do with the Palestinian people?"

He went on to say that he was defending the rights of European academics imprisoned for "questioning certain aspects" of the Holocaust, an apparent reference to a small number who have been prosecuted under national laws for denying or minimizing the genocide.

"There's nothing known as absolute," Ahmadinejad said. He said the Holocaust has been abused as a justification for Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians.

"Why is it that the Palestinian people are paying the price for an event they had nothing to do with?" he asked.

Asked why he had asked to visit the World Trade Center site - a request denied by New York authorities - Ahmadinejad said he wanted to express sympathy for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Then he appeared to question whether al-Qaida was responsible, saying more research was needed.

"If the root causes of 9/11 are examined properly - why it happened, what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved, who was really involved - and put it all together to understand how to prevent the crisis in Iraq, fix the problem in Afghanistan and Iraq combined," Ahmadinejad said.

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Associated Press writers Karen Matthews and Aaron Clark contributed to this report.

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