Ban Ki-Moon Meets Iran`s Supreme Leader
Baku, August 30 (AZERTAC). UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Iran`s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Wednesday, discussing such issues as Iran`s nuclear program, the Syrian crisis and human rigths issues.
The UN Chief told reporters following his meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei that he has discussed his concerns about human rights violations with Iranian authorities, and Martin Nesirky, spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, also told reporters in New York that the UN Secretary General has condemned recent remarks by Iranain leaders about Israel.
Iranian media focused their reports on statements by Ayatollah Khamenei who reportedly told the UN chief that Iran is committed to keeping the Middle East free of nuclear weapons and condemned the alleged support for Israel by the U.S. and other world powers that, according to Iran`s Supreme Leader, have equipped it with nuclear weapons, thus threatening peace in the region.
While UN spokesman indicated that Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern about the slow progress in the nuclear talks, Iranian media reported that Ayatollah Khamenei maintained that while Iran has cooperated widely with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the agency has failed to provide Iran with technical and scientific assistance in the development of nuclear energy as allowed by its own regulations.
Iran`s leader has also criticized the IAEA for failing to take a firm stance against cyber-attacks such as the Stuxnet assault on Iran`s computer systems.