TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran criticised as partial on Tuesday UN chief Ban Ki-moon's reaction to a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a UN meeting hitting out at Israel as "racist".
"The remarks of the UN chief were not neutral," foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said.
"They displayed a one-sided and unreasonable approach," state television quoted him as saying on its website.
Ban had accused the Iranian president of abusing his speech on Monday to a UN conference against racism in Geneva.
"I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian president to accuse, divide and even incite. This is the opposite of what this conference seeks to achieve," the UN chief told journalists.
In his speech, Ahmadinejad criticised the creation of a "totally racist government in occupied Palestine" in 1948, calling Israel "the most cruel and racist regime".
His remarks prompted 23 European Union delegations to walk out of the conference room in protest.
Ban had used a meeting with Ahmadinejad before he delivered the speech to remind the Iranian leader that the UN General Assembly had adopted resolutions reversing an earlier position equating Zionism with racism.
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