Ahmadinejad: 9/11 was a U.S. conspiracy

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today delivered a highly provocative U.N. speech that challenged the U.S. assertion that Islamic terrorists carried out the 9/11 attacks, and suggested that elements within the U.S. government may have orchestrated the attacks to justify military aggression on behalf of Israel in the region. The remarks triggered an immediate walkout by ...

By

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today delivered a highly provocative U.N. speech that challenged the U.S. assertion that Islamic terrorists carried out the 9/11 attacks, and suggested that elements within the U.S. government may have orchestrated the attacks to justify military aggression on behalf of Israel in the region.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today delivered a highly provocative U.N. speech that challenged the U.S. assertion that Islamic terrorists carried out the 9/11 attacks, and suggested that elements within the U.S. government may have orchestrated the attacks to justify military aggression on behalf of Israel in the region.

The remarks triggered an immediate walkout by the U.S. delegation and its allies, who accused the Iranian leader of engaging in an anti-Semitic rant.

"Rather than representing the aspirations and goodwill of the Iranian people, Mr. Ahmadinejad has yet again chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic slurs that are as abhorrent and delusional as they are predictable," said Mark Kornblau, a spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

Read the rest of my article for the Washington Post here.

Follow me on Twitter @columlynch

Colum Lynch was a staff writer at Foreign Policy between 2010 and 2022. Twitter: @columlynch

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.