ZFBoxcar

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that Israel should be "wiped off the map", the official IRNA news agency reported.

Support for the Palestinian cause is a central pillar of the Islamic Republic which officially refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist.

"Israel must be wiped off the map," Ahmadinejad told a conference called "The World without Zionism", attended by some 3,000 conservative students who chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

Under reformist President Mohammad Khatami, whose eight-year tenure ended earlier this year, Iran had shown signs of easing its implacable hostility towards Israel. Officials said Tehran might not object to a two-state solution if that was what the Palestinians wanted.

But Ahmadinejad, a former member of the hardline Revolutionary Guards and traditional religious conservative, said there could be no let-up in its hostility to Israel.

"The Islamic world will not let its historic enemy live in its heartland," he said.

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said Washington took such remarks seriously.

"It underscores the concerns we have about Iran's nuclear intentions," he told reporters.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking nuclear arms, but Tehran says it needs atomic fuel only for power stations. Iran has developed ballistic missiles able to hit Israel.

Tehran denies accusations it trains and arms Palestinian militant groups, saying it offers only moral support.

French Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy said he had summoned Iran's ambassador to explain the comments. "If these (reported) comments are true, they are unacceptable. I condemn them with the greatest firmness," he said in a statement.

Iran's ambassador to Madrid will also be summoned to explain the remarks. "...Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has expressed his rejection in the most emphatic terms and has decided to urgently call in the Iranian ambassador to ask him for an explanation," the ministry said in a statement.
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Wow, even France and Spain are creeped out, the two most unlikely European nations.

Leader

Fixed that title for you.

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smilingassassin

Leader that was mighty white of you!

bull

Ahmedinjad just got his D Day preponed!!!

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What's the difference between people who pray in church and those who pray in casinos?
The ones in the casinos are serious.

Ray

Is he observing an atlas on the schoolroom blackboard?

In that case, he can wipe the whole atlas off the blackboard, if he wishes!

bull

ha ha

SloMax

Nothing new. It was meant for home audience.

Bluesman

If he DOES act on it, he better bring his 'A' game. The Izzies tend to mop the floor with Allah's sons.

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"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell

Monk

I have always believed that most of this rhetoric is for home consumption. But Iran is making it difficult for even their closest friends to defend them. To call for the destruction of a nation is just insane.

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"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time. "

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed."

Sir Winston Churchill

Dreadnought

His country would never survive nor would he. Only being in office for weeks and he wants to play bully on the playground?..LMAO it would be the last thing his country every did. This guy is just plain out a fool and he will get many of his fellow countrymen slaughtered by so many different sides that it wont be funny at all. Even to those that dislike him and his country. Iran had better start voteing in smarter people to represent them unless they like sanctions and war. Now what would happen if Israel suddenly attacked because of this? He would definately attempt to blame them but my guess is that it would fall upon deaf ears. And this guy is the leader of a large country? It might be half its normal size by the time hes done making threats..lol

Bluesman

'Insane' isn't the word you're looking for; 'fanatic' is more to the mark. A difference in degree, perhaps, but while both are mental illneses, insanity has one acting randomly, while fanaticism compels one to act with relentless dedication to a single goal.

Idealogues tend to do things that are against their own objectives while pursuing those same objectives. What we have in the President of Iran is a former terrorist leader that has clawed his way to control of an entire country, and now stands to be in control of a nuclear weapon at some point.

The object of his hatred - ISRAEL AND JEWS - will ALWAYS be his first priority, and he is blind to the fact that he has set himself back on his quest to be able to destroy them by saying in public exactly what he intends to do.

But maniacs like him have always been most obliging in laying out what they're all about. Hitler wrote 'Mein Kampf', and in it was very clear what he intended to do. Lenin was not shy about revealing his plan for re-shaping Russia and its conquests.

And now, we have THIS obsessed and hateful little pretender to greatness saying he'll burn down Israel and kill all the Jews.

Okay, Mr. President. Call us back and tell us how that worked out for you.

Bluesman

Personally, I think it would be GREAT if Israel took this guy at his word (or pretended to), and immediately and formally declared war against Iran.

After that, Israeli airstrikes at Iranian military, economic and leadership targets, relenting only after Iran sued for peace.

Stop their oil exports. Declare their ports closed. Destruction of oil production, refining, shipping and support facilities. Destruction of military bases and assets. Destruction of nuclear facilities. Destruction of civil infrastructure. And finally, destruction of this clown's HOUSE.

Maybe after it was all over, folks in leadership positions would be a bit more careful about who they claimed they wanted to pick a fight with.

Monk

I have always thought that the Iranian leadership is to blame and not the people, therefore no war should be imposed upon Iran. I have argued to this very end with several boarders here.
Secondly, I expected Ahmedinejad to be a better Individual than his predecessors, now I know where that expectation should lie. (Right in the garbage can). He had the option to stop making this kind of statements slowly, until a normal situation could have been reached. But he has wasted that opportunity. If he is trying to gather up arab support thought Anti-Semitism he will not get anywhere, I know that to be a fact.
The Iranians have left me very frustrated and disillusioned, I don't want a war to be thrust upon Iran or its 66mill people. But if the Iranians don't rise against their leaders and put an end to this nonsense there wont be anyone around to save them.
Even the most ardent and loyal of Iranian supporters will have a tough time explaining these words.

BenRoethig

Remember Europe, these are the people you're trying to negotiate with.

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F/A-18E/F Super Hornet: The Honda Accord of fighters.

Dreadnought

IMO if Israel was to strike first who could blame them after this clowns comments certainly not I. This guys sounds a bit too much like that of Hitler for my liking and everybody has the right to self preservation over life. So I certainly wouldnt blame Israel for which ever reply they decide to make good or bad. Is it anymore of a question why this man and Iran shouldnt have a nuclear arsonal to use?