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World leaders descend on New York for the annual United Nations gathering, starting Sept. 25. If the recent past is any guide, it can be a memorable, even explosive, occasion. Here are six moments to watch for, to brace for, this time.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at the high-level meeting on rule of law in the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters Monday. (John Minchillo/AP)
3. A muzzled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran?
In the past, President Ahmadinejad has seemed to relish his ability to send many delegations fleeing the General Assembly’s green auditorium with his inflammatory statements – usually directed against Israel, but also targeting the US and the big-power-led Security Council. With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Mr. Ahmadinejad may opt to throw a few verbal bombs of his own. But some Iran experts, noting that Ahmadinejad is embroiled in a power struggle at home with supreme leader Ali Khamenei, wonder if he might tone down his rhetoric this year.
With Iran’s economy in free fall as a result of UN-approved international sanctions and with the Iranian leadership declaring (and participating in) the Syrian civil war as a battle between regional and international “domineering powers,” don’t bet on it.
