U.N. Headquarters Covers Historic Carving to Avoid Offending Iran -- U.N. watchdog group says incident an ominous sign ahead of nuclear negotiations -- By Alana Goodman, The Washington Free Beacon

The United Nations European headquarters in Geneva has covered up a historic wall carving of a naked man to avoid offending the Iranian government on the eve of nuclear negotiations, the Tribune de Geneve reported today.

“The Creation of Man”, a marble carving which features a man reclining in the nude, has reportedly been covered with a curtain to accommodate the modest sensibilities of Iranian delegates.

The move has sparked outrage from a human rights watchdog group, which called on the U.N. to “stop this dangerous kowtowing to Iran’s fundamentalist regime, an ominous sign as negotiations begin.”

“Today the U.N. is covering up the artistic heritage of its most famous building, Geneva’s historic Palais des Nations, to appease the intolerance of a fundamentalist regime that subjugates women, executes gays, and persecutes Bahais; what will the U.N. hide tomorrow?” said Hillel Neuer, the director of U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based NGO that monitors human rights at the U.N.

Neuer said the censorship of art at the U.N. sets a dangerous precedent.

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