Obama: Ahmadinejad's 9/11 comments inexcusable
American president enraged by Iranian counterpart's allegations suggesting the US was behind terror attack
US President Barack Obama denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments on the September 11 terrorist attacks as "hateful" and "inexcusable," according to excerpts of a Friday interview with the BBC's Persian affiliate.
speaking before the United Nations in New York city Thursday, Ahmadinejad said that most people believe the United States itself orchestrated the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"For him to make the statement here in Manhattan, just a little north of Ground Zero, where families lost their loved ones, people of all faiths, all ethnicities who see this as the seminal tragedy of this generation, for him to make a statement like that was inexcusable," Obama told BBC Persian in an interview Friday.
The Iranian leader's comments came just a few hours after Obama reiterated a call for peace in the Middle East and said he was willing to find a diplomatic solution to concerns that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons for defense purposes.
While Washington views Ahmadinejad's comments as outrageous, US officials said a diplomatic solution is still possible if Iran takes concrete steps to show the international community that its nuclear weapons are for peaceful purposes.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also condemned Ahmadinejad's statement: "I strongly condemn the comments made yesterday by a leader of a delegation that called into question the cause of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on US soil," he said.
"It is unacceptable for the platform of the General Assembly of the United Nations to be misused in this way."
The US, as well as other countries, this year initiated tough sanctions against Iran, which they say the sanctions have hampered Ahmadinejad's popularity among Iranians.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad defended his remarks and challenged the United Nations to set up a commission to study the attacks: "I did not pass judgment, but don't you feel that the time has come to have a fact finding committee?" he said. .
AP, Yitzhak Benhorin in Washington and Dudi Cohen contributed to this report
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