The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has praised the Obama Administration for the walk-out by U.S. Ambassador, Joseph McManus, from a meeting with Iranian diplomats after one of them accused Israel of “genocide.” 

During a closed-door meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian Ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, launched into what has been described in reports as “a lengthy tirade about Israel” in which he accused Israel of having “a dark record of genocide.” The remarks led to the ambassadors of U.S., Australia and New Zealand and Canada – whose IAEA ambassador, John Barrett, was chairing the meeting – walking out (Mike Blanchfield, ‘Canada, key allies storm out of UN nuclear meeting in protest of Iran’s ‘Israeli genocide’ remarks,”’ National Post [Canada], March 7, 2013).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “We applaud U.S. Ambassador McManus’s principled walk-out from this meeting with the Iran ambassador.

“It is not a small matter when any country, let alone a rogue state like Iran, describes a fellow democracy and ally of the U.S. as guilty of ‘genocide.’ There is a fundamental breach of truth and morality in this claim that cannot be passed over. 

“Genocide is a most heinous crime and one that carries major legal consequences. There are few international crimes that mandate armed intervention in another country. When Iran uses this language, it is used as its warrant for aggression against Israel and as justification for treating it as a pariah.

“The charge of genocide is doubly vicious coming from the Iranian ambassador, because the regime he represents has had elected heads, including current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who have expressed the intention to commit genocide by calling for Israel to be wiped from the page of history. It is also a regime seeking to acquire the nuclear weaponry that would make obliterating Israel a practical possibility.

“We commend U.S. Ambassador McManus for walking out of this meeting.”