Israeli ambassador protests as Iranian president speaks
As the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, began addressing the UN general assembly, Israel’s ambassador to the UN stood and held a sign that read, “Iranian women deserve freedom now!”
The sign held by Gilad Erdan included an image of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin who died in custody one year ago after she was arrested for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code for women.
שגריר ישראל באו”ם גלעד ארדן הניף כרזה עם תמונתה של מהסא אמיני במהלך נאומו של נשיא איראן ראיסי. לאחר מכן יצא ארדן מהאולם יחד עם הדיפלומטים הישראלים pic.twitter.com/6pBPHFF9mM
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) September 19, 2023
In his UN remarks, Raisi addressed the protests in Iran, calling reports about them “distorted” and “fake”, and claiming they were plots by western intelligence officials, the New York Times reported. He also said that Islamic teachings say men and women are “equal in the eyes of the creator” and spoke of
The Iranian regime has imposed an extraordinary crackdown on dissent and protests since Amini’s death.
Key events
Summary
That’s all for our live coverage today, thanks for following along. Some key links and highlights from the day:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the UN general assembly that Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine and urged world leaders to attend a peace summit to help stop the invasion and future wars of aggression.
Joe Biden accused Russia of “shredding longstanding arms control agreements” but pledged that the US would “lead by example” in limiting the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Prince William stressed the need for optimism in the face of the climate crisis during a visit to New York City.
Turkey’s Erdoğan says the UN’s security council has ceased to be a guarantor of world security, instead becoming “a battleground for the political strategies” of its five permanent members.
The world is becoming “unhinged” as geopolitical tensions rise and the world seems incapable of coming together to respond to mounting global challenges, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said.
On the climate crisis, Guterres said: “Every continent, every region and every country is feeling the heat. But I’m not sure at all leaders are feeling that heat.”
As the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, began addressing the UN general assembly, Israel’s ambassador to the UN stood and held a sign that read, “Iranian women deserve freedom now!”
Noa Yachot
Roughly 150 people protested on Tuesday evening against Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories outside Manhattan’s Loews Regency Hotel, where the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is staying ahead of his Friday speech at the UN general assembly.
The demonstration was organized by the anti-occupation bloc of Israel’s pro-democracy protest movement. The faction aims to push the broader movement to incorporate Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians into its agenda, which is largely focused on the Netanyahu government’s judicial reforms.
A larger protest is planned for outside the UN on Friday morning, when Netanyahu will be speaking.
In New York, the UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, was asked about the “UK’s continued support for Saudi Arabia” and the prime minister “rolling out the red carpet” for Mohammed bin Salman, with the questioner noting that it had been five years since the the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist and dissident.
Cleverly said:
Saudi Arabia has been a bulwark against extremism and terrorism. And that’s not to suggest we always agree with the Saudi positions on things, and because we have a kind of mature and well-established relationship with Saudi when we have disagreements, we raise those directly.
The Guardian has just published a major new report on carbon offsetting, finding that the vast majority of the environmental projects most frequently used to offset greenhouse gas emissions appear to have fundamental failings suggesting they cannot be relied upon to cut planet-heating emissions:
The investigation from senior Guardian US reporter Nina Lakhani and Corporate Accountability, a non-profit, transnational corporate watchdog, found:
A total of 39 of the top 50 emission offset projects, or 78% of them, were categorised as likely junk or worthless due to one or more fundamental failing that undermines its promised emission cuts.
Eight others (16%) look problematic, with evidence suggesting they may have at least one fundamental failing and are potentially junk, according to the classification system applied.
Overall, $1.16bn (£937m) of carbon credits have been traded so far from the projects classified by the investigation as likely junk or worthless; a further $400m of credits bought and sold were potentially junk.
Read the full investigation here:
Israeli ambassador protests as Iranian president speaks
As the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, began addressing the UN general assembly, Israel’s ambassador to the UN stood and held a sign that read, “Iranian women deserve freedom now!”
The sign held by Gilad Erdan included an image of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin who died in custody one year ago after she was arrested for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code for women.
שגריר ישראל באו”ם גלעד ארדן הניף כרזה עם תמונתה של מהסא אמיני במהלך נאומו של נשיא איראן ראיסי. לאחר מכן יצא ארדן מהאולם יחד עם הדיפלומטים הישראלים pic.twitter.com/6pBPHFF9mM
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) September 19, 2023
In his UN remarks, Raisi addressed the protests in Iran, calling reports about them “distorted” and “fake”, and claiming they were plots by western intelligence officials, the New York Times reported. He also said that Islamic teachings say men and women are “equal in the eyes of the creator” and spoke of
The Iranian regime has imposed an extraordinary crackdown on dissent and protests since Amini’s death.
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, is addressing his recent meetings with senior Chinese government members, which he has previously defended, saying it would be a mistake to try to isolate China.
Speaking in New York about his trip, which was the first visit to Beijing in five years by a UK foreign secretary, he said:
If people think that looking at a Chinese government minister in the eye and explaining in clear and unambiguous terms why we deeply object to their persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, their security laws and implementation of them in Hong Kong, their aggressive posture across the Taiwan strait, their sanctioning of British parliamentarians – face to face in the room, if that’s a softening of our posture, then that’s a surprise to me, because we are absolutely clear that one of the reasons why we engage is so that we can have those conversations directly without any ambiguity.”
UK foreign secretary says Putin running out of time and losing friends
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, is now speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, about the war in Ukraine:
Putin believed that he could outlast Ukraine and outlast Ukraine’s friends around the world. He was wrong. Because time is not on Russia’s side … Cracks are appearing in the Russian system, and the longer this conflict persists, the more those cracks will work their way through the system. Putin is scared of a mass mobilization. His circle of friends, both within Russia and internationally, is shrinking.
We need to send the message loud and clear that we have the resolve, we have the strategic patience, that we will do the right thing until this is resolved, because if we do not, then we will invite further aggression … Ukraine will not give up, the UK will not abandon them … the UK’s position is resolute.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has met with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in their first in-person meeting since the start of the war. When a reporter asked Zelenskiy to comment on Israel’s position, he responded, “We’ll see after our meeting,” the New York Times reported.
Netanyahu is also set to meet with Joe Biden on Wednesday, nine months after he returned to office. The two have had a strained relationship due to the judicial overhaul pushed by the prime minister and his hardline coalition, which has prompted the largest protest movement in Israel’s history.
Julian Borger
Volodymyr Zelenskiy also accused Russia of weaponising food and energy, noting “there are many conventions that restrict weapons but there are no real restrictions on weaponisation.”
He explained how Ukraine and its partners were trying to work around the Russian blockade of Black Sea ports, but he had bitter criticism for Ukraine’s neighbours who have periodically blocked the export of Ukrainian produce westwards for fear it would compete with domestic output…
