n more of a hero in the Arab-Muslim street than before."

Although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said nothing new at this year’s UN General Assembly, his speech dominated the opening of the meeting, and attracted worldwide attention.

On Tuesday, the Iranian president addressed the UN General Assembly, where he offered some thoughts about the world and his personal philosophy. (Click here to see Ahmadinejad's speech at the UN General Assembly)

According to the BBC, Ahmadinejad said that his speech was about "prospects for a brighter and more hopeful future, and about the appearance of the sublime and beauty, compassion and generosity, justice and blossoming of all the God-given human talents and the prominence of faith in God and realisation of the promise of God".

Of course, he talked about the Iranian nuclear case, saying that it was “closed” as a political issue and that the West’s military threats and sanctions had failed to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, which the West alleges is aimed at building atomic bombs despite Iran‘s insistence that it’s strictly peaceful.

The Iranian president also spoke of indigenous cultures being subjected to "broad and destructive aggressions" by the big powers who wanted to plunder peoples' wealth. He said it was time for these powers “to return from the path of arrogance and obedience to Satan to the path of faith in God".

Despite the fact that it wasn’t the kind of speech that a world leader would usually give, it seems that Ahmadinejad thinks that he is mobilising global opinion and striking a chord, according the BBC.

Moreover, from that ever-present twinkle in his eyes, he certainly seems to be enjoying the spotlight, even though his visit to New York sparked a storm which began with the refusal to let him visit Ground Zero.

However, it was the invitation to address students at Columbia University on Monday that triggered heated debate. Protestors outside the university compared Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler. There have also been dark mutterings of the university funding being cut off. (Click here to see Ahmadinejad at Columbia University Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

Despite the criticism, many people wanted to listen to the Iranian leader. Tickets for the event were sold out within an hour of becoming available. Thousands of students also sat on the lawn outside to watch the address on a big screen.

There, Ahmadinejad talked about Islam, science, and the injustices in the Middle East. He also slammed the United States and Israel, and said that there are no homosexuals in Iran.

However, Ahmadinejad’s speech had a lesser impact than that of the university president, Lee Bollinger, who introduced the Iranian leader as a dictator, and said that his Holocaust denials showed he was "brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."

In the U.S., many think that the Iranian president had been treated unfairly by the university that had invited him onto their grounds, while in Iran, politicians and the media -- even Ahmadinejad critics -- describe Bollinger's remarks as insulting.

Others described Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York at a time of escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington over the Iranian nuclear program and the Iraq war as a triumph.

According to the Mehr News Agency, more than 200 Iranian lawmakers hailed Ahmadinejad's "historical and memorable" stay in New York, saying in a statement his "courageous" speech on Monday had made Muslims happy while angering Iran's enemies like Israel.

The head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi- Shahroudi, who has in the past criticized Ahmadinejad, also said that the Iranian leader had defied hostile "plotters" to deliver his speech.

"By fearlessly and courageously walking into the 'Lion's Den' ... he is sure to become even more of a hero in the Arab-Muslim street than before," the daily Iran News wrote.

-- AJP