Iran's Ahmadinejad to speak at US university
By Alex Spillius in Washington
Last Updated: 3:55am BST 21/09/2007
Iran's president is set to use a speech at a leading US university to challenge George W Bush at a time of high tensions with Washington over his country's pursuit of nuclear weapons and its support for insurgents in Iraq.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was invited by Columbia University
The invitation by New York's Columbia University to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is attracting growing criticism ahead of his arrival on Sunday.
Sen John McCain, a Republican presidential candidate and Vietnam veteran, said yesterday: "A man who is directing the maiming and killing of American troops should not be given an invitation to speak at an American university."
Dean Coatsworth, dean of the school of international and public affairs, said: "Opportunities to hear, challenge and learn from controversial speakers of different views are central to the education and training of students for citizenship in a shrinking and still dangerous world."
The row came as US troops in Iraq yesterday arrested a member of the Quds Force, the covert operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in Sulaimaniyah, in the north.
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"This individual has been involved in transporting improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators into Iraq," a US military statement said.
"Intelligence reports also indicate he was involved in the infiltration and training of foreign terrorists in Iraq."
Iran protested to the US about the arrest, saying the man was the head of "cross-border commercial transactions" from the office of the governor-general of Kermanshah province in western Iran, which borders northern Iraq.
Washington has accused Iran of supporting terrorist groups across the Middle East and has warned that it will "not tolerate" the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Mr Ahmedinejad, who was elected president two years ago, has made comments advocating the destruction of Israel and ignored UN deadlines to stop enriching uranium, a process essential to making a nuclear bomb. He said this week Iran would use any means to defend itself.
Mr Bush said yesterday he favoured a diplomatic solution with Iran, but voiced his support for a decision by New York officials to reject a request from Mr Ahmadinejad to visit the site of the September 11 attacks. |
