Columbia Students Could Dine with Iranian President

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holds up a Bible and a Koran while addressing world leaders during the General Ass...

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MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — Columbia University students could break bread with one of the world's most controversial leaders next week  at a dinner with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The student newspaper Columbia Spectator reported that members of the undergraduate group the Columbia International Relations Council and Association (CIRCA) could have a private dinner in Midtown with Ahmadinejad.

CIRCA's vice president for academics Tim Chan told the Spectator that students were "thrilled to have this opportunity."

Plans were still tentative, the Spectator reported, but 15 students could meet with the Iranian dictator, known for his harsh anti-American views. Ahmadinejad will be in town next week for the United Nations General Assembly.

The Iranian leader made headlines in 2007 when he spoke at Columbia, telling students that homosexuals didn't exist in Iran and that the United States supported terrorists.