'Hateful and offensive': Obama slams Iranian president after he blames America for 9/11 attacks

Ahmadinejad: U.S. government was responsible for 9/11 attacks



Obama: His comments are 'hateful' and 'offensive'

EU countries, Australia, New Zealand and Canada join walkout

Barack Obama today slammed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he enraged the U.N. General Assembly by blaming the U.S. for the 9/11 attacks.

The president described his Iranian counterpart's comments as 'hateful' and 'inexcusable'.

He told BBC Persia: ' It was offensive. It was hateful -- and particularly for him to make the statement here in Manhattan, just a little north of Ground Zero, where families lost their loved ones, people of all faiths, all ethnicities who see this as the seminal tragedy of this generation. For him to make a statement like that was inexcusable.'

Ahmadinejad's comments last night prompted a walkout at the United Nations General Assembly, led by American and British delegates.

'The truth cannot be burned': Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holds up copies of the Koran and the Bible as he addresses the UN General Assembly in New York

Diplomats from the the Swedish delegation walk out as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (background) addresses the General Assembly

In a rambling speech to a half-empty chamber in New York, the Iranian leader suggested that most people believed the U.S. government was responsible for the 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers and Washington.

He claimed it was mostly American officials who believed terrorists were behind the suicide plane hijackings.

Another theory, he said, was ‘that some segments within the US government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy, and its grips on the Middle East, in order to save the Zionist regime.’



‘The majority of the American people as well as most nations and politicians around the world agree with this view,’ Mr Ahmadinejad told the 192-nation assembly.

He added that some people believe the US ‘supported and took advantage of the situation.’



‘We are saddened by the 3,000 who died on 9/11, but hundreds of thousands have died since,’ he said.



Israel’s delegates had already skipped the speech to observe Sukkot, a Jewish religious holiday.



But as soon as Mr Ahmadinejad launched his 9/11 tirade, the U.S. delegation marched out, followed by Britain, Spain and Sweden.

All European Union countries, Australia, New Zealand , Canada and Costa Rica then joined the walkout.

Protest: U.S. diplomats look grim as they walk out of the chamber after Ahmadinejad claimed some believe America was behind the 9/11 attacks

With the speech being made so close to the scene of the Twin Towers collapse, the Iranian leader’s claims were all the more inflammatory.



‘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,’ U.S. spokesman Mark Kornblau said last night.



Opponents of the president had protested all morning outside the UN, claiming Mr Ahmadeniejad should never have been allowed into the US.

Despite the walkouts, he soldiered on to blast Israel, defend Tehran’s nuclear energy policy and decry the burning of the Quran.



Mr Ahmadinejad made the claim as he attacked the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And he declared that threats by U.S. religious groups to burn the Koran were an act of 'evil'.

He held up a copy of the Muslim holy book, saying 'the truth cannot be burned'.

The leaders of more than 192 nations are gathered at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan - near where the 9/11 attacks took place - for the annual General Assembly.



Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today condemned Mr Ahmadinejad's remarks as 'bizarre' and 'offensive'. Mr Clegg accused him of trying to distract attention from Tehran's nuclear ambitions.



In his own address to the UN general assembly today, Mr Clegg will say he had been planning to 'straightforwardly reiterate our concerns about Iran's nuclear programme'.



'But instead, once again, an issue of grave global concern has been overshadowed by the bizarre, offensive and attention-grabbing pronouncements by President Ahmadinejad from this podium yesterday,' he will go on.

'His remarks were intended to distract attention from Iran's obligations and to generate media headlines.

'They deserve to do neither.'

President Barack Obama also addressed the summit yesterday.

He challenged the UN to push for peace in the Middle East in order to create an independent Palestine and secure Israel within a year.



Exhorting world leaders to push past years of cynicism and pessimism, the U.S. President urged them to press forward with renewed determination.

Platform: Ahmadinejad delivered his speech on Thursday. The heads of more than 192 nations are in New York for the annual meeting

