Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Nazi Holocaust a ``myth'' and said Europe, the U.S. and Canada should use their own land for a Jewish state.
The West has ``fabricated a myth under the name `Massacre of the Jews,' and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves,'' Iran's leader told thousands of supporters in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, in a speech aired live today on state television.
``If you say and insist it's true that you killed 6 million Jews in crematoria during World War II, then why should the Palestinians pay for that?'' Ahmadinejad asked, referring to Europeans. ``Our proposal is that you give a piece of your land in Europe, the U.S., Canada or Alaska. If you do that, the Iranian people will no longer protest against you.''
This is the strongest anti-Israeli public comment by Ahmadinejad since he took office in August. The Iranian president drew international condemnation on Oct. 26 after saying that Israel should be ``wiped off the map.'' On Dec. 8, he prompted another outcry when he said Europe should host Israel on its soil. Some 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis until Germany's defeat in the 1939-1945 war.
Remarks `Deliberate'
His remarks are ``deliberate'' and fulfill different aims, said Olivier Roy, a specialist on Central Asia and Islam at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris.
``First he wants to cut the grass under the feet of other elements in the regime that favor a more open stance with the U.S.,'' Roy said in a telephone interview. ``Secondly, he's a pure product of the revolution, who is just not interested in diplomacy. And finally, the situation in Iraq makes him feel in a position of strength, as an attack from the U.S. or Israel looks highly unlikely at the moment.''
The remarks by Ahmadinejad, whose election in June gave backers of the Islamic revolution full power over state institutions, have added to tensions as Iran faces possible United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program.
Talks between the European Union and Iran, aimed at ending the standoff over the nuclear program, are scheduled to resume on Dec. 21. The negotiations broke down in August after Iran resumed uranium conversion, an initial step to increase the concentration of the U-235 isotope that starts and sustains a nuclear reaction.
`Legitimate Nuclear Rights'
``Be certain that we will not back away one iota from our legitimate nuclear rights,'' Agence France-Presse quoted Ahmadinejad as saying today in Sistan-Baluchestan province.
Iran's president, like his predecessor Mohammad Khatami, has said the country has a ``legitimate right'' to develop a nuclear power program. The U.S. alleges Iran is gearing up to build a nuclear bomb.
The board of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency voted in September to refer the dispute over Iran's nuclear program to the 15-nation UN Security Council, without setting a date.
The U.S. and its European allies decided last month not to press for such referral immediately, in order to allow more time for an agreement that would permit Iran's uranium enrichment to take place in Russia.
`Extremist Regime'
``We hope the international community takes these comments about wiping Israel off the map very seriously and wakes up to the nature of this extremist regime,'' Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem. ``Iran's nuclear program and its support of international terrorism are not only a danger for Israel but for the entire Western civilization.''
The Security Council ``condemned the remarks the first time he made them,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in Washington. ``I think all responsible leaders in the international community recognize how outrageous such comments are.''
The U.S. government, which bans American companies from doing business in Iran, says Iran sponsors terrorism by backing groups such as the Palestinian Hamas and the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah was formed in 1982 with the help of Iran's Revolutionary Guards after Israel invaded Lebanon.
Yesterday, the Iranian president reiterated his support for Hamas, which has carried out suicide attacks against Israeli targets, after meeting its political leader, Khalid Mashaal.
``We are all obliged to heed our religious and divine responsibilities in offering services to the Palestinian movement,'' Ahmadinejad told Mashaal in Tehran, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Oil Sales
Iran exported crude oil to Israel until the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's founder, put an end to that trade. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since Khomeini died, has repeatedly called for Arab and Islamic countries to suspend oil sales to Israel.
Anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. comments are frequent in Iran. Friday prayers throughout the country are regularly punctuated by ``Death to Israel, Death to the U.S.'' slogans. Anti-U.S. paintings also abound in Tehran, including those on the wall of the building that served as the U.S. Embassy.
The war of words goes in both directions, with Iran referring to the U.S. as ``the Great Satan'' and U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002 calling Iran part of an ``axis of evil'' that included North Korea and Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule.
The West has ``fabricated a myth under the name `Massacre of the Jews,' and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves,'' Iran's leader told thousands of supporters in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, in a speech aired live today on state television.
``If you say and insist it's true that you killed 6 million Jews in crematoria during World War II, then why should the Palestinians pay for that?'' Ahmadinejad asked, referring to Europeans. ``Our proposal is that you give a piece of your land in Europe, the U.S., Canada or Alaska. If you do that, the Iranian people will no longer protest against you.''
This is the strongest anti-Israeli public comment by Ahmadinejad since he took office in August. The Iranian president drew international condemnation on Oct. 26 after saying that Israel should be ``wiped off the map.'' On Dec. 8, he prompted another outcry when he said Europe should host Israel on its soil. Some 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis until Germany's defeat in the 1939-1945 war.
Remarks `Deliberate'
His remarks are ``deliberate'' and fulfill different aims, said Olivier Roy, a specialist on Central Asia and Islam at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris.
``First he wants to cut the grass under the feet of other elements in the regime that favor a more open stance with the U.S.,'' Roy said in a telephone interview. ``Secondly, he's a pure product of the revolution, who is just not interested in diplomacy. And finally, the situation in Iraq makes him feel in a position of strength, as an attack from the U.S. or Israel looks highly unlikely at the moment.''
The remarks by Ahmadinejad, whose election in June gave backers of the Islamic revolution full power over state institutions, have added to tensions as Iran faces possible United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program.
Talks between the European Union and Iran, aimed at ending the standoff over the nuclear program, are scheduled to resume on Dec. 21. The negotiations broke down in August after Iran resumed uranium conversion, an initial step to increase the concentration of the U-235 isotope that starts and sustains a nuclear reaction.
`Legitimate Nuclear Rights'
``Be certain that we will not back away one iota from our legitimate nuclear rights,'' Agence France-Presse quoted Ahmadinejad as saying today in Sistan-Baluchestan province.
Iran's president, like his predecessor Mohammad Khatami, has said the country has a ``legitimate right'' to develop a nuclear power program. The U.S. alleges Iran is gearing up to build a nuclear bomb.
The board of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency voted in September to refer the dispute over Iran's nuclear program to the 15-nation UN Security Council, without setting a date.
The U.S. and its European allies decided last month not to press for such referral immediately, in order to allow more time for an agreement that would permit Iran's uranium enrichment to take place in Russia.
`Extremist Regime'
``We hope the international community takes these comments about wiping Israel off the map very seriously and wakes up to the nature of this extremist regime,'' Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem. ``Iran's nuclear program and its support of international terrorism are not only a danger for Israel but for the entire Western civilization.''
The Security Council ``condemned the remarks the first time he made them,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in Washington. ``I think all responsible leaders in the international community recognize how outrageous such comments are.''
The U.S. government, which bans American companies from doing business in Iran, says Iran sponsors terrorism by backing groups such as the Palestinian Hamas and the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah was formed in 1982 with the help of Iran's Revolutionary Guards after Israel invaded Lebanon.
Yesterday, the Iranian president reiterated his support for Hamas, which has carried out suicide attacks against Israeli targets, after meeting its political leader, Khalid Mashaal.
``We are all obliged to heed our religious and divine responsibilities in offering services to the Palestinian movement,'' Ahmadinejad told Mashaal in Tehran, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Oil Sales
Iran exported crude oil to Israel until the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's founder, put an end to that trade. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since Khomeini died, has repeatedly called for Arab and Islamic countries to suspend oil sales to Israel.
Anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. comments are frequent in Iran. Friday prayers throughout the country are regularly punctuated by ``Death to Israel, Death to the U.S.'' slogans. Anti-U.S. paintings also abound in Tehran, including those on the wall of the building that served as the U.S. Embassy.
The war of words goes in both directions, with Iran referring to the U.S. as ``the Great Satan'' and U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002 calling Iran part of an ``axis of evil'' that included North Korea and Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule.