KavkazCenter - Ahmadinejad: Israel, Europe continued Holocaust

Ahmadinejad: Israel, Europe continued Holocaust

Iran’s President MAHMOUD AHMADINEJEAD, who said last month that the Holocaust was a myth, accused European countries of completing the genocide by creating a Jewish state in the midst of Muslim countries, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

AHMADINEJAD said that the Europeans wanted to establish a "Jewish camp" in the Middle East in order to rid their continent of Jews. He said this camp, Israel, now is supported by the United States and Europe in the slaughter of Muslims.

"Don't you think that continuation of genocide by expelling Jews from Europe was one of their aims in creating a regime of occupiers of Al-Quds (Jerusalem)?" ISNA quoted AHMADINEJAD as saying. “Isn't that an important question?"

"The best option was elimination of Jews from Europe so they threw the Jews out of Europe - itself some sort of ethnic and religious cleansing," he added.

The Iranian President also said that the crimes committed by Israel now against the Palestinians were the same as those committed by the Nazis in the SECOND WORLD WAR. “One question to be clarified by the West is what crimes did they commit in those days (Second World War) that the Zionists are not doing today,"

AHMADINEJAD added that anti-Semitism had a long history in Europe, while Jews had lived peacefully among Muslims for centuries. (Iran's population of 70 million includes about 30,000 Jews.)

The President also noted that Judaism should be distinguished from ZIONISM, which he described as a “Western ideology and an imperialistic idea created by the Britons which follows secular aims and fascist methods.”

There were two official and unofficial versions of the Holocaust, he said, "the issue has never ever been discussed publicly and instead turned into a red line (taboo) and irrevocable legend.

"If even no exaggeration in history and so many Jews have indeed been killed, then why are Muslims the subject of revenge and why does Europe not pay the price," AHMADINEJAD asked.

Last month, the Iranian President suggested that Germany and Austria host a Jewish state if they feel responsible for the Holocaust. And in October, he caused an international outcry by calling for Israel to "be wiped off the map".

Nuclear crisis

AHMADINEJAD’s remarks came as Iran is in the middle of a crisis over its NUCLEAR PROGRAM.

The European Union wants Iran to conduct uranium enrichment in Russia in a compromise solution to settle a dispute with the United States, which wants to send Tehran’s nuclear file to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

On Sunday, Iran rejected the Russian proposal, saying that it wasn’t logical for any country to entrust its energy security to another state, The Associated Press reported.

"It's not logical for a country to put the fate of its nation at the disposal of another country even if it's a friend. You can meet part of your fuel needs from abroad," said Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani. "History and experience show that if you don't have technology, you will damage your independence," he added.

Larijani also warned of a "crushing" response if its nuclear sites were attacked by the United States or Israel. "If there is any truth in such talks, Israel will suffer greatly. It's a very small country within our range," he said.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government announced that it has produced equipment for separating uranium from its ore.

State television said that the "settler-mixer" was a highly effective way to produce uranium, quoting Amir Hossein Farhadi, a researcher for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.

"Foreign countries were not ready to sell it to Iran since it could be applicable in the cycle," Farhadi said.

The U.S., Europe and Israel suspect that Iran is covertly working on an atomic weapons program. But Tehran insists that it has a right to pursue a peaceful NUCLEAR PROGRAM as a signatory to the NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY.

Agencies