Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Iran

Iran's President Says Holocaust A 'Myth'

President Ahmadinejad (file photo) (AFP)

14 December 2005 -- Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad today described the Holocaust as a "myth" and reiterated that Israel should be moved elsewhere.

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December 14, 2005

Ahmadinejad's remarks to a crowd of thousands of people in the southeastern province of Sistan va Baluchistan were carried live on the news network Khabar.

Ahmadinejad said people are allowed to question the existence of God, but if someone criticizes "the myth of the massacre of Jews" by Nazis during World War II, "the Zionist loudspeakers and the governments in the pay of Zionism will start to scream."

Ahmadinejad also expanded on his recent statement that the state of Israel should be moved to Europe. He told the rally in Zahedan that the Jews should be relocated to Europe, the United States, Canada, or Alaska.

The United Nations and many world leaders had condemned his remarks when he made similar statements at a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Mecca earlier this month.

Today, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev described Ahmadinejad's comments as "extremist" and "warped." He said it shows Iran's president is a "rogue political element."

(news agencies)

Iranian Anti-Zionism

President Ahmadinejad visiting the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in October (Fars)

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Each year in Iran, the last Friday of Ramadan is celebrated as Qods (Jerusalem) Day, officially a day for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.
"I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel," Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of Iran's Islamic Revolution, said in an August 1979 announcement. "I ask all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper and its supporters...and, through a ceremony demonstrating the solidarity of Muslims worldwide, announce their support for the legitimate rights of the Muslim people..." (more)

Iranian President Says Light Surrounded Him During UN Speech

INTERVIEW: On December 22, 2005, RFE/RL's Radio Farda spoke with FRED ZEIDMAN, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Zeidman commented on Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's anti-Israeli comments.

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Hear the complete interview (about nine minutes):
Real Audio Windows Media

ARCHIVE: For an archive of RFE/RL's coverage of Iran, click here.

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