U.S. Notes ‘Irony' as Iran Requests Sympathy

UNITED NATIONS — It was a "rich irony" for Iran to ask the U.N. Security Council for sympathy while it is defying a council demand to suspend its nuclear program, the acting American envoy at the United Nations, Alejandro Wolff, said.

The council yesterday condemned a bus bombing Wednesday that killed 18 people in Zehedan, Iran, saying, "no cause can justify the use of terrorist violence."

Mr. Wolff said it was a "rich irony" that Iran, which "rejects implementation of Security Council obligations conveyed through resolutions adopted unanimously, is now coming to the council and asking for a council statement."

Separately, a congressional aid told the Sun yesterday that the Senate is expected to schedule a hearing to confirm Zalmay Khalilzad as the new American ambassador to the United Nations in the last week of February.