Iranians walk out when President Peres speaks at Kazakhstan parley

Iranian delegates walked out of an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan yesterday when President Shimon Peres got up to speak.

The Iranian delegation was headed by Mehdi Mostafavi, a senior advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He returned to the room only after Peres had finished speaking.

That the speech would not pass smoothly had been clear from the moment the Iranians learned that Peres was to be the guest of honor at the conference: They promptly threatened not to participate at all. Not only is Peres not a religious leader, they charged, "he is a man of violence."

Peres, however, was unfazed by the incident. "There have been times when Israel remained all alone in conference halls," he said. "This time, Iran remained alone, while the entire Muslim religious leadership remained with Israel."

None of the delegates from Arab countries joined the Iranian walkout, his aides said.

In his speech, Peres urged King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and other Arab leaders to meet with him to discuss a regional peace initiative. Noting that Abdullah was the author of the Arab peace initiative, Peres declared, "Together, we can realize your vision, the vision of all those who believe in peace and justice."