Protesters denounce Ahmadinejad outside UN

NEW YORK — About 800 people, including many of Iranian origin, rallied on Thursday outside the United Nations, using street theater and speeches to protest President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s appearance at the UN General Assembly.

They chanted “Ahmadinejad is a terrorist” and “Viva Rajavi,” a reference to Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition of exiled groups opposed to the Islamic regime in Teheran.

The protest included a street performance depicting people stained with fake blood and scenes of hanging and stoning. Some people carried the tri-colored flags with a lion sun, used in Iran before the Islamic revolution.

Also appearing was a man in a huge inflatable head designed to look like the Iranian president, and wearing prison garb. The street theater also included a man dressed as an ayatollah, whipping political prisoners.

Rajavi, whose picture was carried by some of those in the crowd, addressed the gathering, denouncing the UN leaders “who have allowed this murderous henchman to address the General Assembly... We ask them that after three decades of pursuing a conciliatory policy towards Teheran, what have you accomplished?”

She added, “The only solution for the Iranian crisis is democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized resistance.”

The Ahmadinejad visit took place with Western powers pressing Iran to end its nuclear energy program suspected of developing weapons.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia called for an “early negotiated settlement” to the Iranian nuclear issue.

US officials confirmed that there had been signs from the Iranians that they might be ready for a meeting in the fall.

A joint statement said the six powers were “ready to engage with Iran” in the context of implementing a deal agreed in Geneva in October last year under which Iran would give up enriched uranium in exchange for nuclear fuel.

The protesters said it was futile to negotiate with the Teheran regime.

“It is time for the international community to stop dealing with Ahmadinejad and finally recognize and empower the opposition, so that the Iranian people can finally get the democratic change it deserves,” said Ali Safavi, a member of the coalition.

“We want democracy, not barbaric theocracy,” said Henry Anavian, an Iranian living in New York and affiliated with the Ma Hastim group aimed at raising awareness of human rights issues in Iran.

“We just want the United Nations to stop dealing with Ahmadinejad. He doesn’t represent the Iranian people,” he said.

Many of the demonstrators were affiliated with the the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, the main group in the NCRI. The PMOI is officially listed as a foreign terrorist organization in the United States, although a judge ruled in July that it should be removed from the blacklist.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani also spoke, endorsing the protest.

“If the UN wants to reclaim its lofty goal of protecting human rights, then it must stand with you against the brutal regime in Iran,” he told the crowd.


(2010-09-24/AFP)