Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted to visit Ground Zero next week and lay a wrath there, but US authorities rejected his request because of the ongoing construction work and security reasons.

The New York Police announced late Wednesday that the Iranian leader will not be able to visit the site of the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks, after Commissioner Raymond Kelly created some confusion by saying the request is being analyzed.

Ahmadinejad is attending a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly next week in New York and wanted to “pay his respects” to the people killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Commissioner Kelly previously said he is discussing the possibility with officials from the US Secret Service and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But his statement was corrected by the police later, who said security and safety reasons prevent the officials from approving Ahmadinejad’s request.

The Tehran leader became a very controversial personality among the Jewish community after he called for the destruction of Israel and refused to believe that the Holocaust was real. When he asked to be allowed to visit Ground Zero, Jewish organizations in the United States protested and urged the authorities to turn down his request.

“For the president of the leading state-sponsor of terrorism to visit this sacred place would violate its sanctity and the memory of those who perished there,” a joint statement of the organizations said.

Presidential candidates Senator Hillary Clinton, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani have also criticized his “shockingly audacious request.”

Ahmadinejad’s relations with members of the international community are very tense at the moment over Iran’s nuclear programme and the leader’s defiance of the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.

He is scheduled to arrive Monday in New York and attend United Nations meetings, along with holding a speech at Columbia University' World Leaders Forum.