Ahmadinejad at UN: US Orchestrated 9/11 Attacks

24/09/2010 US orchestrated the September 11 attacks in order to boost its economy and to save the Zionist entity, the Iranian Mahmoud Ahmadinejad President told the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

During the speech, US and other Western countries delegations walked out to express their protest.

"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."Ahmadinejad said.

"The majority of the American people as well as most nations and politicians around the world agree with this view," he added.

"To this day, it hasn't been proven that the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers," he said, adding that "many questions have remained open and calling for a "thorough inquiry" into the attacks.

The Iranian president later said that even if Muslims were behind the attacks, the US exploited them to further its own aims.

The first to walk out following the American representative were German, France, and British delegates, followed by all members of the European Union. However, low-level Norwegian and Swiss officials chose to remain in their seats and listen to Ahmadinejad's entire speech.

IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

On his country's nuclear program, the Iranian President said that some members of the Security Council have "equated nuclear energy with nuclear bombs."

He accused the US of building up its nuclear arsenal instead of dismantling it and reiterated his call for a nuclear-free world.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad condemned some of the permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - for monopolizing nuclear power.

He said the criticism of Iran comes "at the same time they have continued to maintain, expand and upgrade their own nuclear arsenals."

The UN Security Council in June imposed a fourth set of sanctions against Iran and the European Union and the US have added even more extensive sanctions targeting its foreign trade.

Iran accuses the West of adopting double standard policy as it confirms that the nuclear program is its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) while Israel, which is believed to be the sole nuclear power in the Middle East with more than 200 nuclear heads, is not a signatory for this treaty.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its previous reports had confirmed that Iran only enriches uranium-235 to a level of "less than 5 percent."

Uranium, which fuels a nuclear power plant, can be used for military purposes only if enriched to high levels of above 90 percent.

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