Obama: Ahmadinejad "Offensive" and "Hateful"

President Barack Obama called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks at the United Nations yesterday “offensive” and “hateful.” In his first comments on the Iranian leader’s statement that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may have been orchestrated to bolster the U.S. economy and “save the Zionist regime,” Obama told BBC Persian that “for him to make a statement like that was inexcusable.” “It was offensive, it was hateful,” Obama said, according to an excerpt of the interview released by the White House. U.S. and European diplomats walked out of the UN General Assembly hall yesterday when Ahmadinejad delivered his remarks on the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon near Washington. Envoys representing Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and New Zealand also left the speech. The interview with BBC Persian is part of the president’s attempt to communicate directly with the Iranian people as the U.S. and other nations increase pressure on Ahmadinejad’s government to comply with UN demands that it halt uranium enrichment. Read more here:

Obama: Ahmadinejad "Offensive" and "Hateful"