Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed credit for “a unilateral humanitarian gesture” – the release of two American hikers imprisoned in Iran for eight years – but President Obama seemed to undercut Ahmadinejad’s self-congratulation in response to a question about the hikers during the United Nations conference.
When asked for his “reaction to the hikers being released,” Obama replied that he is “thrilled that the hikers were released, and we are thrilled for the families. It was the right thing to do.” He included a mild dig at the Iranians, noting that the hikers “shouldn’t have been held in the first place, but we’re glad they’re now home.”
The United States diplomats to the United Nations led a walk-out that included several countries’ delegations when Ahmadinejad gave an anti-American speech today at the UN.
