Obama, Ahmadinejad To Meet Face To Face At UN

The political rivalry between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and US President Barack Obama will continue on Thursday at the UN General Assembly as world leaders gather for their annual speeches.

The North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, the crisis in the Middle East, climate change, UN reforms and the possible disintegration of Sudan are the issues that are expected to dominate the debates.

Ahmadinejad and Obama will show up on the stage within a few hours of each other on the opening day of the meeting. Obama provided details of a new US development plan aimed at alleviating poverty at a summit of the UN that ended Wednesday.

His focus is now likely to shift towards foreign policy, as the Western world's allegations that Tehran is planning to develop nuclear weapons will dominate the agenda. Ahmadinejad, who repeatedly denies allegations that his country plans to build a nuclear bomb, warned that any US-backed Israeli assault against Iran's nuclear facilities would be considered open aggression.

Strict security measures were in place for the Iranian President during his visit to New York for the UN assembly. Around 140 world leaders are currently in New York for the General Assembly and the UN summit on poverty. Around 35 will deliver speeches on Thursday, including China Premier Wen Jiabao. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, will deliver the opening speech at the assembly titled "Pulling Together In Testing Times".