Raisi at UNGA: News media censoring Iran, a fighter against ‘global arrogance’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi quoted frequently from the Koran, denounced Islamophobia, stressed the sanctity of family and frequently attacked Israel in a Tuesday afternoon address at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks on Sept. 19, 2023 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Credit: UNGA/screenshot.
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Raisi described Iran as a fighter against “global arrogance” and decried what he called Western “cultural apartheid,” as in public burnings of sacred Islamic scripture and banning headscarves in schools. Those “deplorable” discriminations “are not worthy of human dignity,” he said.
He also claimed that Iran is being misrepresented in the media on a global scale, and that its religious gatherings and what he called the “martyrdom” of Qassem Soleimani have been censored.
“The blood of the oppressed will not be forgotten,” he said.
The Iranian president also swiped at Israel several times, referring to decades of Israeli “occupation,” accusing Israel of murdering civilians and calling for the creation of a state of Palestine.
He also claimed that Iran does not support any wars and that the United States “trampled” on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. “It has committed egregious and unilateral crimes,” he said.
Iran seeks “peaceful nuclear energy,” and not nuclear weapons, Raisi claimed.
The Iranian president’s “nice-sounding words” at the meeting “are hollow and smothered in lies,” stated Danny Danon, a member of the Israeli Knesset and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.
“Iran has defied and deceived the world with the nuclear agreement from Day 1,” Danon said, noting that the Islamic Republic evicted International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors earlier in the week.
“This move is outrageous and a direct violation of Iran’s guarantees. Iran’s repeated hypocrisy and deceit must be aggressively condemned,” Danon added. “All international collaboration and cooperation with such a corrupt regime should immediately be stopped.”
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, stated that Raisi’s speech “reinforced why Iran remains a dangerous and destabilizing force throughout the world.”
“As a state sponsor of terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran provides direct aid and political support to the enemies of Israel and acts to undermine regional and global security,” Deutch added. “Iran seeks to inflict its reign of terror beyond its borders. The world cannot allow that to happen. The time to act is now.”
