Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that serious reform in the structure and working methods of the UN Security Council was urgently needed.

Speaking at the general debate of the 61st session of the UN General Assembly, the president said the present structure and working methods of the Security Council were "legacies of the Second World War," which were "not responsive to the expectations of the current generation and the contemporary needs of humanity."

"The persistence of some hegemonic powers in imposing their exclusionist policies on international decision making mechanisms, including the Security Council, has resulted in a growing mistrust in global public opinion, undermining the credibility and effectiveness of this most universal system of collective security," he said.

The Iranian president said the Security Council most critically and urgently needed legitimacy and effectiveness, adding that as long as the council was unable to act on behalf of the entire international community in a transparent, just and democratic manner, it would neither be legitimate nor effective.

"We cannot, and should not, expect the eradication, or even containment, of injustice, imposition and oppression without reforming the structure and working methods of the council," he said.

The president said the role of the general assembly, as the UN's highest organ, must be respected. Through appropriate mechanisms, the general assembly can take on the task of reforming the UN and particularly rescue the Security Council from its current state.

In the interim, he proposed, the Nonaligned Movement, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the African Continent should each have a representative as a permanent member of the Security Council, with veto privilege.

This move would bring along balance, which would in turn hopefully prevent further trampling on the rights of nations, he said.

Source: Xinhua