TEHRAN, Sept. 19 (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a lie on Friday, raising the stakes against Israel just as world powers try to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil.
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| Ahmadinejad |
"The pretext (Holocaust) for the creation of the Zionist regime (Israel) is false ... It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim," he told worshippers at Tehran University at the end of an annual anti-Israel "Qods (Jerusalem) Day" rally. "Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty."
Ahmadinejad's anti-Western comments on the Holocaust have caused international outcry and isolated Iran, which is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear programme.
The hardline president warned leaders of Western-allied Arab and Muslim countries about dealing with Israel. "This regime (Israel) will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it ... This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end," he said in a speech broadcast live on state radio.
Germany said Ahmadinejad was a "disgrace to his country".
"This sheer anti-Semitism demands our collective condemnation. We will continue to confront it decisively in the future," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Ahmadinejad's comment "only serves to isolate Iran further from the world". |
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