Iranian dissidents rally against Ahmadinejad in New York
NEW YORK (AFP) — Around 300 Iranian opposition exiles held a rally in a square near the United Nations Tuesday ahead of an address to the UN General Assembly by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Bearing banners reading "Terrorist Ahmadinejad out of the UN" and waving pre-revolutionary Iranian flags, the protesters chanted "no war, no appeasement" and denounced the firebrand Iranian leader.
"Ahmadinejad is here to present a very belligerent, radical vision of the terrorist regime he represents," said Navid Amiri. "We are here to represent an alternative voice of a nuclear-free Iran," he said.
He said that Ahmadinejad's insistence since arriving in the United States that Tehran was not pursuing a nuclear weapons program was a blatant untruth.
"He's lying. The facts speak for themselves. There's no doubt they are seeking a nuclear weapons program. They are the ones who are pushing Iran and the whole region towards more bloodshed and war," he added.
Soona Samsami, a former US representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said Ahmadinejad should not be allowed to address world leaders gathered at the United Nations.
"Iranians feel very embarrassed they are giving such a chance to this madman," she said. "It's outrageous."
"I think this is the wrong message to send to the Iranian people."
Ahmadinejad was expected to use his address to the United Nations later Tuesday to denounce the United States and insist that Iran has the right to a civilian nuclear energy program and has no intention of acquiring a bomb.
