UN General Assembly: President Obama to Address Middle East Upheaval, Iranian Nuclear Crisis

The UN General Assembly will meet this morning with more than 120 leaders attending. The leaders will include the new leaders of Tunesia, Egypt and Libya as well as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

President Obama will address the General Assembly around 10 am ET this morning. Excerpts of the president's speech have been released, in which he will address the murder of four Americans in Libya, including Ambassador Chris Stephens and Iran's nuclear development crisis. The speech, while addressing the global community is also intended for a domestic audience. On the murder of the four Americans, Obama will say:

"There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents," Obama says in the speech. "There is no video that justifies an attack on an embassy. There is no slander that provides an excuse for people to burn a restaurant in Lebanon, or destroy a school in Tunis, or cause death and destruction in Pakistan."

Addressing Iran's nuclear program, Obama will state that the US will do what it must to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

"Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained. That is why a coalition of countries is holding the Iranian government accountable. And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

While Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to meet with approximately 60 heads of state, President Obama will not be meeting face to face with any of the other world leaders, including Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

By many not meeting the Israeli PM is seen as a snub of Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitt Romney has criticized Obama, stating not meeting with the Israeli leader sends a wrong message to the Middle East.

"The president’s decision not to meet with Bibi Netanyahu, PM of Israel, when the PM is here for the UN session, I think is a mistake and it sends a message throughout the Middle East that somehow we distance ourselves from our friends,” Romney said.

The UN General Assembly and members of the Security Council are deeply divided on the issue of Syria and Iran. Russia and China have blocked every effort to take action against the violence in Syria and have not been very supportive on the Iran nuclear development issue.

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be taking the spotlight for the last time on Wednesday, during the jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. For some this is a direct slap in the face of Israel and considered insensitive by the UN. Ahmainejad is a Holocaust denier and wants Israel wiped off the map of the Middle East.

Ahmedimejad has referred to Israel as Zionists who are at a dead end, with no roots in the Middle East.

"Fundamentally, we do not take seriously threats of the Zionists. We believe the Zionists see themselves at a dead end and they want to find an adventure to get out of this dead end,” he said.

This year's speech will be no different than the ones we have been accustomed to, full of rhetoric and hate. It certainly shows the division among UN General Assembly nations.

Egypts, newly elected president, Mohammed Morsi, will also address the assembly on Wednesday. You can expect that his speech will be scrutinized by many in the West.

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has declined to address the assembly, will be meeting with Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The Harper government is a staunch support of Israel and has recently closed its embassy in Teheran.

The focus will turn the the United Nations to see how it will deal with the crisis in the Middle East, with particular attention to Iran and Syria. Efforts to this point have not contained or stopped the violence in Syria. There have not been any positive results to stop the nuclear development in Iran.

President Obama's Speech Full Text