Iran urges UN inquiry into U.S.-led military actions in Afghanistan, Iraq

UNITED NATIONS, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday demanded a UN probe into the presence of Western powers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Ahmadinejad accused the United States and NATO of staging military actions in the two countries on the pretext of fighting terrorism.

"Following September 11 attacks, and on the pretext of fighting against a number of terrorist operatives, more than a million people in our region have been victimized and a few more millions been displaced," he said.

"Two members of the United Nations have been occupied by NATO and U.S. military forces, and a third country is susceptible to military aggressions."

Since the presence of American and NATO forces, "cultivation of illicit crop has also multiplied and the peoples of our region continue to live under the shadow of threat," he said.

"The current method of combating terrorism, even if the claims of its proponents are accepted as true, has obviously failed," Ahmadinejad said.

He added that "the peoples of our region continue to live under the shadow of threat."

The Iranian president said he believed the settlement of problems in the region "does not need wide-scale military expeditions or actions."

The Iranian leader also urged the secretary-general to "appoint an independent fact-finding team which is trusted by the countries of the region, to launch a comprehensive investigation into the main intentions of NATO military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, the methods used, and the outcome of their presence and engagement, with results to be presented to the General Assembly."

UN spokesman Farhan Haq said the secretary-general has received the letter, which is "going to be studied."