Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the advocates of "freedom of speech" about the sincerity of their conviction.

After ‘Israeli' advocates staged a walkout in the midst of the Iranian president's speech at the UN anti-racism summit, President Ahmadinejad criticized the "so-called advocates of freedom of information."

"Why is it that the so-called advocates of freedom of information fear hearing other people's opinions," the Iranian president asked.

Speaking at a news conference in Geneva after addressing the United Nations conference on racism, President Ahmadinejad described the countries which boycotted or walked out of the UN anti-racism summit as "arrogant and selfish."

"In our opinion, this is arrogance and selfishness and the root cause of the world's problems," President Ahmadinejad told the Monday press conference.

"The subject of this conference is anti-racism and the advocates of racism did not attend this summit," he added.

The Iranian president's speech at the Durban Review Conference at the UN European headquarters was disrupted several times by protesters who shouted slogans and held placards before they were escorted out of the conference room by security guards.

President Ahmadinejad's anti-‘Israeli' remarks also caused 23 European Union delegates to walk out of the conference room.