New York, NY, September 20, 2007 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) praised New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly for his decision to deny Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's request to visit the site of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack at Ground Zero.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

Commissioner Kelly was right to deny the Iranian president a platform at Ground Zero.  To have the leader of the greatest state sponsor of terrorism in the world visit the site of the most heinous terrorist attack on America would be an affront to the victims and families of 9/11 and to all who lived through that day. The 9/11 victims did not die only to have their names and their memories used for political opportunism by a terrorist regime, especially one that contributes to the killing of American soldiers abroad and threatens America's allies, including Israel.

The Iranian regime provides ideological, material and political support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and numerous other extremist Shia forces. The Iranian president's fixation on 'wiping Israel off the map' apparently is matched only by his maniacal drive to obtain nuclear weapons in defiance of the United Nations and the West.

The regime's most recent statements – that Iran's missiles are pointed at Israel and that it is prepared to retaliate against America and Israel if its nuclear program is thwarted – show that his visit to Ground Zero would not constitute a show of sympathy of the victims, but a callous act of grandstanding on their ashes.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.