AHMADINEJAD LASHES OUT AT U.S. & ISRAEL AT U.N.

Ahmadinejad adresses U.N. General Assembly (JTA)
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad singled out the United States and Israel for intense criticism in his wide-ranging speech.

The Iranian president received polite applause for his 40-minute speech before the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, in which he called on the nations of the world to promote the ideas of monotheism and justice.

Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran's nuclear program was "industrial-scale nuclear production for peaceful purposes " and that his country had observed all international rules, yet were deprived of other nation's technical assistance.

He blamed the current world problems on attitudes emanating from the "victors" of World War II and said that "Palestine" had been occupied for the last 60 years as compensation for what the Jews lost in Europe. He never referred to Israel by name, calling it only the "illegal Zionist regime."

He criticized the United States for its war on Iraq, saying it continues to find excuses for its occupation despite the fact that dictator Sadaam Hussein was overthrown .

He called for a restructuring of the UN Security Council, citing the fact that the United States was able to use its veto power to allow Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon to extend for 33 days before stopping it with a resolution.

"The era of darkness will end," he concluded. "Prisoners will return home, the occupied lands will be freed, Palestine and Iraq will be liberated from the dominion of the occupiers and the people of America and Europe will be free of the pressures exerted by the Zionists."