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Six reasons this UN General Assembly is must-see TV

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.

3. A muzzled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran?

John Minchillo/AP
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at the high-level meeting on rule of law in the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters Monday.

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. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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