Ahmadinejad Is Seeking To Address United Nations

By Benny Avni
March 16, 2007
The New York Sun
Original Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/50610
UNITED NATIONS — As a new proposal for a resolution against Iran was distributed to U.N. Security Council members yesterday, President Ahmadinejad officially filed a request to address the world body, setting up a dramatic showdown as early as next week.
In a letter to the council's president yesterday, Iran requested that Mr. Ahmadinejad address the 15-member body before it votes on the proposed resolution, according to two council diplomats who spoke to The New York Sun on condition of anonymity.
Iran also asked the State Department to allow an entry visa to Mr. Ahmadinejad and 38 of his associates so they can travel to New York on a date to be determined, an American official said.
Britain circulated a new text for an American-backed resolution that contained several punitive measures against Iran and reset the diplomatic clock by calling on the International Atomic Energy Agency to report again on Tehran's compliance within 60 days. The text also raised the possibility of increased measures in two months.
The council president, Dumisani Kumalo, the South African ambassador to the United Nations, said yesterday that he expected consultations on the proposed resolution to last a week before the council could vote.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Ardakan in central Iran that the Security Council has no legitimacy, and he called its resolutions requiring Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program torn paper.
Today, the Iranian nation fully possesses the nuclear fuel cycle, the Iranian president said, according to the Associated Press. If all of you gather and also invite your ancestors from hell, you will not be able to stop the Iranian nation.
Jewish organizations yesterday urged America to deny Mr. Ahmadinejad's visa request on numerous grounds, including his violation of the United Nations Charter and the Genocide Convention with his threats to annihilate the state of Israel. The leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations made their statement in a letter to Secretary of State Rice and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Some Western diplomats, however, said Mr. Ahmadinejad's appearance could backfire. Instead of a propaganda coup, it could be like Chavez, a senior diplomat who asked for anonymity said. He referred to a speech by the Venezuelan president at the U.N. General Assembly last September in which Mr. Chavez called President Bush the devil and then lost a bid to be elected a member of the Security Council.
U.N. protocol favors allowing Mr. Ahmadinejad to be heard. All member states, and particularly when the agenda is a concern to a member state, should have the right to participate in any deliberations of any organization of the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban told the Sun, when asked whether Mr. Ahmadinejad's council appearance could help diplomacy on Iran.
Interpol, meanwhile, announced yesterday that it would issue capture notices on five Iranians charged recently by Argentina with a 1994 terrorist bombing of Jewish targets in Buenos Aires. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida, called Interpol's decision a welcomed step forward in bringing to justice those believed to be responsible for the killing of innocents.
The new resolution proposal was the result of nearly two weeks of negotiations among the Security Council's five permanent members and Germany. It contains several new provisions, including a ban on exporting Iranian weapons directly or indirectly, and a call on member states to exercise vigilance and restraint in selling weapons to Iran.
In addition, the new proposal adds to American-led worldwide financial pressure on Iran by calling on all states and international financial institutions not to enter into new commitments for grants, financial assistance, and concessional loans to Iran, except for humanitarian purposes. Several names were also added to a list of officials connected to Iran's nuclear program whose travel abroad was restricted in a December resolution.
Most significantly, the new proposal repeats one provision that appeared in the council's December resolution, instructing the IAEA director to report to the council again in 60 days, assuring continuation to applying mild but ever-increasing pressure in Iran.