Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacked Western powers on Thursday for a catalogue of misdeeds, but his address to the United Nations failed to mention Tehran?s disputed nuclear program.

The U.S. delegation walked out when Ahmadinejad said ?arrogant powers? threatened anyone who questioned the Holocaust and the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States with sanctions and military action. Other Western delegations soon made their exit.

Ahmadinejad made only a passing reference to the Palestinian issue which has overshadowed this year?s UN General Assembly and did not comment on the Palestinian plan to ask the UN Security Council to recognize their nascent state.

He accused the United States of using the ?mysterious? Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a pretext to launch wars on Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States and its allies ?view Zionism as a sacred notion and ideology,? the Iranian leader said.

?By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the Sept. 11 event with sanctions and military actions,? he added.

Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the U.S. mission at the United Nations, condemned Ahmadinejad?s remarks.? ?Mr Ahmadinejad had a chance to address his own people?s aspirations for freedom and dignity, but instead he again turned to abhorrent anti-Semitic slurs and despicable conspiracy theories,? Kornblau said in a statement.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.

This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions. 

We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.

As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday! 

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a gift and our board will match it.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$129 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT