Iranian President Ahmed Ahmadinejad
Photo: Reuters
Iranian asks Israel for help
Official Iranian representative approaches Israeli professor during Amman conference, asking her to help his country join prestigious scientific project
An official Iranian representative has asked Israel to help his country join a prestigious scientific project in which a number of Middle Eastern countries are taking part, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday.
This unusual request came at the same week when Iranian President Ahmed Ahmadinejad blasted Israel once again, saying that it should be moved to Europe and expressing doubt that the Holocaust occurred.
The project deals with building and operating a research-scientific particle accelerator, which is being constructed in the al-Balqa University in Jordan.
The top steering committee for the Middle Eastern particle accelerator project convened last week in Amman in order to discuss the project's budget.
Israel's representative to the committee was Professor Mina Teicher, the chief scientist of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
To her great surprise, she was approached by Iran's representative, Jaber Rahiji, who was sent to the committee as an observer and not as a full member of the project.
Rahiji asked Teicher to help him convince the other participants that Iran should join the accelerator project as a full participant.
"I told him that it was not my decision to make," Professor Teicher told Yedioth Ahronoth.
"His answer was: 'I know, but the German chairman of the committee listens to you," she said.
