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Ahmadinejad Doubts Holocaust, US Reportedly to Strike
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"They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred," said Ahmadinejad. (Reuters)
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TEHRAN,
December 14, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The
situation in the Middle East seemed dangerously clouded Wednesday,
December 14, with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterating
anti-Israel rhetoric and Turkish news reports highlighting the
prospect of a possible US military action against both Tehran and
Damascus.
Launching
a fresh attack against Israel Wednesday, Ahmadinejad dismissed the
Holocaust as a "myth" and said the Jewish state should be
moved as far away as Alaska.
"They
have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above
God, religions and the prophets," the outspoken president
declared in a speech carried live on state television, according to
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"If
somebody in their country questions God, nobody says anything, but if
somebody denies the myth of the massacre of Jews, the Zionist
loudspeakers and the governments in the pay of Zionism will start to
scream," he said.
"Our
proposal is this: give a piece of your land in Europe, the United
States, Canada or Alaska so they (the Jews) can create their own
state."
In
October Ahmadinejad said Israel "must be wiped off the map",
and last week said Israel was a "tumor" that should be moved
to Germany or Austria.
Typically,
Ahmadinejad's new remarks drew swift condemnation from the European
Union and Iran's arch-enemy Israel.
In
a sharp response, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev told
AFP that Ahmadinejad's comments reflected a "perverse vision of
the world held by this regime and underline the danger should such an
extremist regime have a nuclear capacity in the future."
"We
hope these extremist comments by the Iranian president will make the
international community open its eyes," he said.
Israel
has consistently called for international action to prevent Iran from
acquiring nuclear weapons, with its chief of staff Dan Halutz claiming
Tuesday that Tehran would have all the necessary knowledge to build a
nuclear warhead within three months.
Israel
is widely believed to possess around 200 nuclear warheads, making it
the only nuclear power in the Middle East, although it has never
admitted having atomic weapons.
The
EU also condemned Ahmadinejad's remarks.
"The
comments are wholly unacceptable and we condemn them unreservedly.
They have no place in civilized political debate," said Britain's
Minister for Europe Douglas Alexander, whose country currently holds
the EU presidency, according to AFP.
Firm
Stand
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Goss that Ankara should gear up for a limited military operation against Iran and Syria.
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With
just a week to go before scheduled talks with the European Union --
which is seeking guarantees Tehran will not acquire atomic weapons --
the Iranian president vowed he would not compromise "one
iota" on its nuclear program.
"Be
certain that we will not back away one iota from our legitimate
nuclear rights," said Ahmadinejad, who was speaking to thousands
of people in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.
"We
have experienced your attitude and we will no longer be duped by your
lying propaganda."
The
EU, backed by the United States, is now pinning its hopes for a
compromise under which Iran's enrichment work would be carried out in
Russia, although this has also been rejected by Tehran.
The
UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has still
not ruled -- after an almost three-year investigation -- on whether
Iran's nuclear program is peaceful.
The
EU big-three -- Britain, France and Germany -- are expected to meet
Iranian officials on December 21 in a bid to kick-start stalled
diplomacy over Tehran's nuclear drive.
But
Ahmadinejad spelled out that Iran was not ready to give in to demands
to limit its work on the nuclear fuel cycle -- a process the regime
insists is only directed to making electricity but which can also be
extended to make weapons.
US
Strike
Meanwhile,
CIA Director Porter Goss has told Turkish officials during his current
visit to Turkey that Ankara should gear up for a limited military
operation against Iran and Syria, Turkey's Cumhuriyet newspaper
revealed on Tuesday, December 13.
Citing
well-placed Turkish sources, the paper said Goss has thoroughly
tackled with his Turkish counterpart the Iranian nuclear program, the
alleged Iranian support of "terrorist organizations" and
what Goss called the Syrian "support of terror."
Goss
further demanded Ankara to find out how nuclear material were smuggled
by Turkish companies to Syria and Iran, the sources said.
Goss
met Tuesday with Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for
talks that were focused on the Kurdish rebel group Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK).
Turkey
borders Iraq and has been pressing the United States to crack down on
the PKK and destroy its bases in Kurdish-run northern Iraq.
Goss
has been holding closed meetings with Turkish intelligence and
security officials since his arrival Sunday.
International
terrorism, the sharing of intelligence, technical intelligence
cooperation and the maintenance of technical facilities were among the
issues debated in the meetings.
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