President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has raised the stakes against Israel by describing the Holocaust as a lie, just as world powers are trying to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil. "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 speeches and comments on the Holocaust have in the past caused an international outcry and isolated Iran which is at loggerheads with the West over its disputed nuclear programme. The hard-line president warned leaders of Western-allied Arab and Muslim countries about dealing with Israel. "This regime (Israel) will not last long.
-- Ahmadinejad says Holocaust is "lie"
-- Britain calls Ahmadinejad's remarks "abhorrent"
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. Britain was swift in condemning Ahmadinejad's remarks, calling them "abhorrent as well as ignorant". "It is very important that the world community stands up against this tide of abuse. This outburst is not worthy of the leader of Iran," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.
Ahmadinejad's fresh comments came ahead of his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly next week and before Tehran attends talks on October 1 with major powers worried about the Islamic Republic's nuclear strategy. Western powers are concerned by what they have called Tehran's defiance and "point-blank refusal" to suspend uranium enrichment and address the issue as demanded by UN Security Council resolutions since 2006.
Instead of directly addressing those demands, Iran handed world powers this month a proposal that spoke generally of talks on political, security, international and economic issues but was silent on its nuclear programme. Diplomats familiar with the Iranian proposal said it was vague and did not appear to pass "the smell test". Ahmadinejad repeated on Thursday that Iran would "never" abandon its disputed nuclear programme to appease Western critics.
TURMOIL AT HOME At home, Ahmadinejad is facing strong opposition which erupted into unrest following his disputed re-election in June. On Friday, Iranian security forces clashed with supporters of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi and arrested at least 10 of them during annual anti-Israel rallies in Tehran. Thousands of supporters of Mousavi, wearing green wristbands or shawls, were among crowds marching in the "Qods Day" rallies.
The state news agency IRNA said Mousavi and reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi, both defeated candidates in June, had been forced to leave the rallies after being attacked by "angry people". Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami took part in the rally, but was attacked by hard-liners and had to leave after his robe was ripped and his turban fell to the ground, an ally of Khatami who accompanied him told.
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