http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w071008&s=kirchick101207

Of all the absurd claims expressed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his recent address at Columbia University, his assertion that homosexuality does not exist in his country is the most ridiculous. Ahmadinejad’s florid statements regarding Jews (“We are friends with the Jewish people”), prevarications about Holocaust denial (“There are researchers who want to approach the topic from a different perspective”), and hedging about Iranian nuclear ambitions (“they are completely peaceful”) paled in comparison to inflammatory statements he has made on those subjects in the past and were clearly tempered for his live American audience. Even on the status of women, Ahmadinejad skirted critical questions, instead effusing, “Women are the best creatures created by God.” But when asked about Iran’s oppression of homosexuals, Ahmadinejad was uncompromising and unapologetic: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country. We don’t have that in our country… We do not have this phenomenon. I do not know who’s told you that we have it.”

To read the entire article click here