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Iran-UN: Kofi Annan cancels Iran visit after Ahmadinejad remarks |
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Saturday, 05 November 2005 |
 NCRI, November 5 - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has canceled his
forthcoming trip to Tehran in response to the Iranian president's call
to "wipe Israel off the map," the United Nations said on Friday.
Annan had planned to visit the Iranian capital in mid-November during a
swing through the Middle East beginning next week, presumably to talk
about Iran's nuclear policy.
But since the trip was arranged, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
drew international condemnation for his remarks on October 26.
"The secretary-general and the Iranian government have mutually agreed
that this is not an appropriate time for him to travel to Iran," U.N.
spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
"In light of the ongoing controversy, it would have been difficult to
advance the agenda that he had wanted to discuss with the Iranian
leadership," Dujarric said.
In Tehran, a Foreign Ministry source contended it was Iran, not Annan,
who wanted the trip rescheduled "to a more appropriate time in the
future," the official news agency Irna reported. It said comments made
by Annan on Thursday were "under the influence of American officials
and were not interpreted well in Tehran."
Annan, who had previously rebuked the Iranian president, told reporters
on Thursday that "no one in the international community defended what
the Iranian president said and the Security Council itself issued a
statement."
He was answering questions on why he had not called off the trip and
also hinted at a change saying, "My itinerary is still being refined
and I will announce it later."
At the same time, Annan, in keeping with the organization's policy of
communicating with all member states, said, "Obviously, we need to
engage people and governments."
Among those advocating he cancel the trip was California Rep. Tom
Lantos (news, bio, voting record), the ranking Democrat on the House
International Relations Committee.
On Monday, Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, also urged the
Secretary General to cancel his trip to Iran and instead take the
initiative for the adoption of a decisive policy, including the
imposition of sanctions, against the clerical regime.
"Shaking the blood stained hands of those criminals who have shed the
blood of freedom lovers in Iran and brazenly violated the United
Nations Charter by calling for the destruction of Israel and the United
States as well as threatening Arab and Muslim nations with terrorism,
undercuts the credibility of Mr. Annan and the United Nations as the
highest competent international authority," Mohaddessin said.
The NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman added, "The henchmen ruling
Iran will exploit this trip to legitimize their sinister and
suppressive regime, just as they took maximum advantage of dialogue and
diplomatic engagement with the European countries to crack down on the
Iranian people, complete and advance their clandestine nuclear program
and export terrorism and fundamentalism to the region and Iraq." |
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