Blue Crab Boulevard

Iran Spits On UN

All the wonderful spin that has been wasted on trying to portray Kofi Annan's visit to Tehran in the best possible light was completely undone at the end of his visit. The Iranians announced they would host a conference to "examine exaggerations about the Holocaust". Kofi Annan was left to make a hollow denunciation of that, but the Iranian president did not appear at a closing press conference with Annan.

TEHRAN, Iran - The U.N. chief got little satisfaction Sunday at the close of his trip to Tehran, snubbed by Iran's leader over international demands to stop enriching uranium and ignored in warnings not to incite hatred by questioning the Holocaust.

In a provocative move on the final day of Kofi Annan's two-day visit, Iran announced it would host a conference to examine what it called exaggerations about the Holocaust, during which more than 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis.

The move was sure to draw new international condemnation of Iran's stance on Jews. Hours after the announcement, Annan repeated his displeasure over an exhibition in Tehran of cartoons mocking the Holocaust that was opened as a response to Western caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.

"I think the tragedy of the Holocaust is an undeniable historical fact and we should really accept that fact and teach people what happened in World War II and ensure it is never repeated," Annan told reporters.

He commented after a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the hard-line Iranian leader didn't accompany the U.N. chief to the news conference.

Ahmadinejad has drawn strong condemnations around the globe for calling the Nazis' slaughter of Jews a myth and saying Israel should be wiped off the map or moved to Germany or the United States.

The Holocaust exhibit is being held to underline outrage over Prophet Muhammad caricatures in Western media. Islam forbids picturing Muhammad at all, but Muslims also were angered by the cartoons' negative tone, such as one showing the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse.

Annan first raised his concerns about the exhibit during a meeting Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki, according to the U.N. chief's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi. He quoted Annan as saying that "we should avoid anything that incites hatred."

Yes, I'm sure that kind of reasoning reached Ahmadinejad. I diplomatic terms, Ahmadinejad sent Annan packing with a sneer. I'd be about willing to bet that a shipment of arms went out to Hezbollah shortly after Iran assured Annan they would honor the ceasefire, too.

Iran | Gaius Sunday, 3 September , 2006

By JVP, Sunday, 3 September , 2006 @ 3:07 pm

So everyone else needs to respect the UN except the US? Or does the UN only matter when they are aligned with US interests?
By Gaius, Sunday, 3 September , 2006 @ 3:14 pm

The US does not do the equivalent of a cold shoulder in diplomatic terms. Don’t confuse criticism with what are considered diplomatic insults.
By AST, Sunday, 3 September , 2006 @ 8:14 pm

That’s some equivalence: you published cartoons of Mohammed so we’ll deny the Holocaust. It’s all about defiance with this guy. I would like to know how he plans on backing up all his lip.

As for Kofi, was there ever any doubt that he’d achieve nothing? I would have thought they’d promise him something they never intended to follow through on. That usually satisfies the U.N.
By Bill Franklin, Monday, 4 September , 2006 @ 9:51 am

> The US does not do the equivalent of a cold shoulder in diplomatic terms

Really? Invading Iraq without a UN resolution, prompting Kofi Annan to say “From our point of view and the UN Charter point of view, it [the Iraq invasion] was illegal.” That’s just a disagreement, and not the US giving the UN a cold shoulder. Got it.

Sounds like Iran has some “disagreements” with the UN on some issues. Except if Iran does it they are “spitting on the UN.” Nice spin.