The speaker of Iran’s parliament criticized Israel and the United States during a ceremony in honor of Tunisia’s new constitution causing the American delegation to walk out of the celebrations. Addressing the ceremony at the National Assembly in Tunis, Ali Larijani referred to Israel as a "cancer" in the region. Larijani charged that Israel and the US had "tried to render Arab revolutions sterile and to make them deviate from their course so that Israel can benefit." The American embassy in Tunis said following the incident, "What was intended to be a ceremony honoring Tunisia's achievements was used by the Iranian representative as a platform to denounce the United States. The US representatives present at the NCA departed the ceremony due to the inappropriate comments made by the Iranian representative present regarding the United States." (Arutz-7)