Romney: Don't let Iranian leader near Ground Zero

It's fair to say that Mitt Romney won't be sitting down for tea anytime soon with Iran's president.

The Republican presidential contender called earlier this week for the United Nations to revoke an invitation to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak to the General Assembly next week. The Iranian president should be indicted instead, Romney said.

This afternoon, Romney's campaign was quick to fire off a missive responding to reports that Ahmadinejad might visit Ground Zero while in New York.

"Ahmadinejad's shockingly audacious request should be met with a vehement no," Romney said in a statement. "It's inconceivable that any consideration would be given to the idea of entertaining the leader of a state sponsor of terror at Ground Zero. This would deeply offend the sensibilities of Americans from all corners of our nation."

The Democratic National Committee, however, said Romney's tough talk on Iran is disingenuous, pointing to his investments in oil and other companies that do business with Iran.

Republican rival Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, added his voice to the outrage to a possible Ground Zero tour by the Iranian president.

"Under no circumstances should the NYPD or any other American authority assist President Ahmadinejad in visiting Ground Zero," Giuliani said in a statement issued by his campaign. "This is a man who has made threats against America and Israel, is harboring Bin Laden's son and other al-Qaeda leaders, is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents and is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons. Assisting Ahmadinejad in touring Ground Zero -- hallowed ground for all Americans -- is outrageous."

All the protests, it turned out, were premature.

In an email late this afternoon, the New York Police Department said that the request from the Iranian UN mission for the Ground Zero visit had been rejected because of ongoing construction.

But the department added, "Requests for the Iranian president to visit the immediate area would also be opposed by the NYPD on security grounds."