U.S Diplomats Walkout on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad causes a mass walkout of diplomats at the UN after he attacks Western powers over the Holocaust and 9/11.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday denounced the United States and its European allies from the U.N. General Assembly podium as arms-wielding colonialist oppressors who were wrecking the world economy, prompting a walkout by dozens of diplomats.

Ahmadinejad, speaking in an annual appearance at the opening of the General Assembly's new session, described the United States and its allies as the sources of misery going back centuries. He said they were responsible for suffering resulting from slavery, world wars, atomic attacks and the current economic breakdown.

These “slave masters and colonial masters have caused widespread misery and disorder,” Ahmadinejad said, adding: “Do they have the competence to run the world?”

The remarks prompted the departure of diplomats from the United States, European countries and some other nations. Others, including Canadian diplomats, had decided not to show up at all for the Iranian’s speech, which was one of a series of speeches by world leaders to the body.