Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad en route to New York to attend United Nations meetings
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can’t get enough of the Big Apple.
The Iranian President left Saturday for a three-nation trip, which includes the U.S., where he’ll attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings next week, AFP reported.
Ahmadinejad said that besides attending the U.N. meeting, he’d also meet with American government officials.
“In New York, I will talk to heads of governments, a group of American people, industrialists, thinkers, politicians and decision-makers, have a dialogue with one of the American universities, and talk to the media,” local media outlets reported.
In Syria, the anti-American leader said that Middle Eastern countries will “disrupt” U.S. and Israeli plans to change the political geography of the region but did not elaborate.
That meeting comes just days after Syrian President Bashar Assad met with President Obama’s special Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. The back-to-back trips symbolize the battle between Iran and the U.S. to influence Syria, a historic Iranian ally.
Ahmadinejad later made a brief stop in Algeria and met with the country’s president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, according to local media reports.
The Holocaust denier, accused terrorist and proud member of the “axis of evil” has been a guest at the United Nations several times since being elected to power in 2005.
He has set off firestorms in the past in New York. He previously asked (but was denied the opportunity) to lay a wreath at Ground Zero. He also made a previous controversial visit and speech at Columbia University.
Earlier this week, Ahmadinejad made an appearance on NBC’s ‘Today,’ speaking out against U.S. policy to Iran, vowing that he wouldn’t yield to pressure from the U.S. over what he says is a peaceful nuclear program.
But he insisted there is no hate between Muslims and Americans despite recent conflict over a proposed mosque near Ground Zero and a ditched plan by a Florida pastor to burn Korans.
“People (in Islamic countries) are against that ugly behavior,” he said. “They are not against the people of the United States. They are not against Americans, they are not against Jews. They are not against Christians or Christianity.”