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Iran: Holocaust remarks misunderstood
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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSATHENS, Greece -- Widely condemned remarks by Iran's president about Israel and the Holocaust were "misunderstood" by Western governments, the country's interior minister has said. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad provoked international outrage on Wednesday when he described the Holocaust as "a myth" and suggested that Israel be moved to Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska. But speaking at an Athens conference on immigration on Friday, Mostafa Pourmohammadi told The Associated Press: "Actually the case has been misunderstood. (Ahmadinejad) did not mean to raise this matter." Ahmadinejad "wanted to say that if others harmed the Jewish community and created problems for the Jewish community, they have to pay the price themselves. People like the Palestinian people or other nations should not pay the price (for it). "A historical incident has occurred. Correct or not correct. We don't want to launch research or carry out historical investigation about it," he said without elaborating. Ahmadinejad's comments drew condemnations from Israel, the United States and Europe, which warned he was damaging Iran's position in talks about his regime's nuclear program. Denying the Holocaust -- in which 6 million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis in World War II -- is a crime in several European nations. In a speech to thousands of people in the Iranian city of Zahedan, Ahmadinejad said during a tour of southeastern Iran that if Europeans insist the Holocaust occurred, then they were responsible and should pay the price. He also sparked widespread international condemnation in October when he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." "They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets," Ahmadinejad said in the speech to thousands of people in the Iranian city of Zahedan, according to a report from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. "The West has given more significance to the myth of the genocide of the Jews, even more significant than God, religion, and the prophets," he said. "(It) deals very severely with those who deny this myth but does not do anything to those who deny God, religion, and the prophet." "If you have burned the Jews, why don't you give a piece of Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to Israel," Ahmadinejad said. "Our question is, if you have committed this huge crime, why should the innocent nation of Palestine pay for this crime?" European Union leaders meeting in Brussels, Belgium, warned of sanctions against Iran because of Ahmadinejad's remarks. "These comments are wholly unacceptable and have no place in civilized political debate," a draft statement said, according to AP. Swiss protestOther nations across the world have condemned Ahmadinejad's remarks. Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said: "What the Iranian president has shown us today is that he is clearly outside the international consensus, he is clearly outside international norms and international legitimacy, and in so doing he has shown the Iranian government for what it is -- a rogue regime opposed to peace and stability and a threat to all its neighboring countries." In Berlin, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his government had summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires to make "unmistakably clear" its displeasure, The Associated Press said. (Full story) The White House said the comments underlined the need for the international community to work together to "keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons." "All responsible leaders in the international community recognize how outrageous such comments are," spokesman Scott McClellan said, Reuters reported. In the Swiss city of Bern about 250 people waving Israeli flags chanted slogans in front of the Iranian Embassy on Thursday evening to protest Ahmadinejad's remarks. Some conservative allies in Iran have criticized the current president's remarks, AP reported, because they fear he is damaging the country's image. Moderates have urged the ruling Islamic establishment to rein in the president. But Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supports Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel's elimination, the news agency added. Tehran-based political analyst Mahmoud Alinejad said the president could feel his speeches strengthen Iran diplomatically. "There is a perception, based on past experience that only when Iran threatens and pushes does the West back off," he told Reuters. CNN producer Michal Zippori contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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