Iran wildly overestimates France 24’s – and Ahmadinejad’s - popularity

According to Fars news the official Iranian press agency, an article on France 24.com about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the UN General Assembly in September reaped in 2.2 billion reader comments. This figure doesn't exactly match those of France 24.

Ahmadinejad gave one of his trademark fiery speeches in front of the UN General Assembly gathered in New York on September 24. In his speech, he spoke of an "American plot" behind the September 11 attacks, causing some Western delegates to walk out.

FRANCE 24 did indeed publish an article on the topic, both in French and English. Six comments were posted in reaction to the English version, and 25 for the French. We do not know how Fars obtained the figure of 2.2 billion reactions. But given than there are an estimated 1.5 billion Web users on the planet, their headline seems a little hard to believe.

This is not the first time that unusual claims have been made about a speech pronounced by Ahmadinejad in the UN General Assembly. In September 2005, the president told clerics that a halo of light had surrounded him as he spoke, and that the diplomats present in the room had not so much as blinked for 27 minutes.