At UN, Iran president calls Israel a ‘savage’ regime that kills women and children

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi tells the United Nations General Assembly that Israel is a “savage power” and insists Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful in a speech to the United Nations.

“The region has not seen previously such an occupying savage power such as the Zionist regime in its midst in the past. The killing of children and women are present in the dark report card of the Zionist regime,” Raisi says.

“The killing of Palestinian women and children and new generations shows everyone that seven decades of Israeli occupation and savagery is still with us,” he says.

He proposes a vote by all Palestinians, “Muslims, Christians and Jews” to establish a single state.

Raisi repeatedly refers to Iran as the protector of all oppressed people innthe region, “from the enslavement of the Babylonians to the Palestinians.”

Hundreds of Iranian dissidents protest against Raisi outside the United Nations during his speech, as they have throughout the week, including by gathering outside of his New York hotel.