Ahmadinejad tells U.N. ‘uncivilized Zionists’ are threat to Iran; U.S. boycotts addre

[Gerald]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gives his address to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 26, 2012.

UNITED NATIONS; Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday for what was likely to be the last time, denounced military threats against Tehran by;uncivilized Zionists; and attacked Western leaders as handmaidens of the devil.

But, for all the rhetoric, the speech by the Iranian leader was decidedly less provocative and less notable than his previous seven appearances before the world body.

The Iranian leader;s U.N. visit comes at a time of heightened nuclear tension between Israel, which has warned that Tehran is close to becoming a nuclear weapons power, and Iran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, has urged President Obama to take a more controversial stance against Iran and to clarify a set of red lines; that would trigger a military response to Irans nuclear developments.

But in a speech that drew heavily on religion and history, Ahmadinejad devoted little attention to the nuclear clash, using his speech to advance Tehran;s case for a greater say in world affairs as the new leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, where it is serving a three-year term as chair.

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