Ban tells Iranian leaders to give up calling for Israel’s destruction
UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon covered the burning topics of Iran’s nuclear program and Syria at a round of meetings in Tehran Wednesday with Iran’s top leaders, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Speaker Ali Larijani and National Security Adviser Saeed Jalili. While asking them to abandon their violent anti-Israel rhetoric, he heard their demand for the US and West to stop interfering in Syria and arming the rebels. Their responses on the nuclear issue were not released.
Ban accepted the invitation to attend the Non-Aligned Summit opening in Tehran Thursday night in the face of US and Israeli protests.