United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over a speech attacking Israel's "totally racist government" at a UN anti-racism meeting.
Mr Ban said Mr Ahmadinejad had ignored his plea beforehand not to make such comments.
"I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite. This is the opposite of what this conference seeks to achieve," he said.
Mr Ban met Mr Ahmadinejad before the Iranian president was due to speak, to remind him that the UN General Assembly had "adopted the resolutions to revoke the equation of Zionism with racism and to reaffirm the historical facts of the Holocaust", he said.
"It is deeply regrettable that my plea to look to the future of unity was not heeded by the Iranian President."
When addressing a UN conference against racism, Mr Ahmadinejad criticised the creation of a "totally racist government in occupied Palestine" in 1948, calling it "the most cruel and racist regime".
His remarks prompted 23 European Union delegations to walk out of the conference room in protest.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay joined the condemnation saying she "utterly" deplored Mr Ahmadinejad's speech, describing him as "somebody who traditionally makes obnoxious statements".
"I condemn the use of a UN forum for political grandstanding. I find this totally objectionable," she added, reiterating that it clearly defied the UN's position by equating Zionism with racism.
"The best riposte for this type of event is to reply and correct, not to withdraw and boycott the conference," she added.
Mr Ban described the event as a "very troubling experience for me as a Secretary General".
"I have not experienced this kind of disruptive proceedings of the assembly conference by any one member state. It was a totally unacceptable situation," he said.
Source: The Australian
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