Ahmadinejad Says "Uncivilized Zionists" Threaten Iran

Complains that United Nations has no legitimacy

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that "uncivilized Zionists" are threatening to attack his country, but he otherwise was silent on the continuing clash between Iran and world powers over the Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad, in an address that climaxed days of public and media appearances in New York, focused his remarks on what he described as an unjust international system, built around the United Nations, that oppresses the world in the interests of the West's wealthy minority.

He said his country has "suffered from the agonies of forced aggressions" from countries he didn't identify. He said that an "arms race and intimidation by nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction by hegemonic powers have become prevalent" and that a "continued threat by the uncivilized Zionists to resort to military action against our great nation is a clear example of this bitter reality."