By RIA Novosti,
United Nations : Several hundred people have rallied outside the UN headquarters in New York to protest the arrival Tuesday of Iran’s president for the General Assembly session.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, criticized over his country’s nuclear program and human rights record, is due to speak at the session Tuesday – just a day after the IAEA said it had not been able to make much progress in its inquiry into a possible military aspect to Iran’s nuclear program. The UN nuclear watchdog added that the issue remained a serious concern.
Tehran says its nuclear activities are aimed at generating electricity, but the United States and other Western nations suspect the civilian program is a cover for plans to build a nuclear bomb. The United States and Israel have refused to rule out a military attack on the country’s nuclear facilities.
Ahmadinejad said Sunday the Iranian military would “break the hands” of anyone targeting the country.
The rally late Monday was attended by several politicians, including the speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver.
Thousands protested last year when Ahmadinejad gave a lecture at Columbia University, and the U.S. delegation walked out of the UN General Assembly when the Iranian leader was given the floor.
Foreign ministers from the six powers engaged in the long-running nuclear talks with Iran – Russia, China, the U.S., France, Britain, and Germany – will meet Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the French Foreign Ministry said earlier.
Russia and China, veto-wielding UN Security Council members, have opposed extra, tougher sanctions against Tehran over its defiance of international demands to halt uranium enrichment, a process needed in power generation and weapons production.
Russia has urged Iran to comply with all UN Security Council resolutions and UN nuclear watchdog rulings on its nuclear program.