No homosexual in Iran: Ahmadinejad
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
NEW YORK, Sept 25 (AFP): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad skirted a question about the treatment of homosexuals in Iran Monday, saying in a speech at a top US university that there were no gays in Iran.
"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country," Ahmadinejad said to howls and boos among the Columbia University audience.
"In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has told you that we have it," he said.
Ahmadinejad was challenged during his appearance on Amnesty International figures that suggested that 200 people had been executed in Iran so far this year, among them homosexuals.
"Don't you have capital punishment in the United States?
"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country," Ahmadinejad said to howls and boos among the Columbia University audience.
"In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has told you that we have it," he said.
Ahmadinejad was challenged during his appearance on Amnesty International figures that suggested that 200 people had been executed in Iran so far this year, among them homosexuals.
"Don't you have capital punishment in the United States?