Irish president accuses Israeli embassy of leaking letter sent to Iran president

Irish President Michael D. Higgins has accused the Israeli embassy of leaking a letter in which he extended his "best wishes" to Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian. 

Higgins, currently in New York for the UN Summit of the Future, addressed the issue while speaking to journalists after his speech. The letter, which surfaced online in August, became a subject of criticism. 

Higgins defended the correspondence, describing it as a "standard" gesture sent to new heads of state and emphasising that it called for peace in the Middle East and the importance of diplomacy.

When asked about the letter's origin, Higgins questioned the motives behind the criticism, saying, "Why don’t you ask where it came from?...Where the criticism came from and how the letter was circulated and by whom and for what purpose?" He went on to assert that the letter had been leaked by the Israeli embassy.