Iranian president: Israel a rotten tree
Ahmadinejad says in conference in support of Palestinians that Israel is a threat burdening Muslim nations in region, calls country 'rotten, dried tree' that will be 'annihilated in one storm'; adds doubts may surround Holocaust but not 'Palestinian tragedy'
Iran's president said on Friday that the existence of the "Zionist regime", Iran's term for Israel, was a threat to the Islamic world, days after declaring Iran had become a nuclear power by enriching uranium.
Ahmadinejad also called Israel a "rotten, dried tree" that will be annihilated by "one storm."
"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation," Ahmadinejad told a conference for supporting the Palestinians that opened in the Iranian capital on Friday.
"The existence of the Zionist regime is tantamount to an imposition of an unending and unrestrained threat so that none of the nations and Islamic countries of the region and beyond can feel secure from its threat," Ahmadinejad said.
The president provoked a world outcry last October when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map." On Friday, he repeated his previous line on the Holocaust, saying: "If such a disaster is true, why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed and have its land occupied?"
The land of Palestine, he said, referring to the British mandated territory that includes all of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, "will be freed soon." He did not say how this would be achieved, but insisted to the audience of at least 900 people: "Believe that Palestine will be freed soon."
'Palestinian Holocaust'
Referring to the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad also said: "Are the consequences of the establishment of this (Israeli) regime less than the Holocaust which you (the West) are claiming? If there are doubts regarding the Holocaust, there is really no doubt regarding the Palestinian disaster and holocaust."
"Palestine should be returned to the Palestinian nation and the united Palestinian government, elected by all Palestinians, should rule the country," He said.
"In other words, the only rational way, which is compatible with the generally recognized international norms, is holding a referendum (to decide on a political system and elect leaders (for all genuine Palestinians," He said.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate authority in Iran, also addressed the conference which was attended by delegates and members of parliament from around the world, many of them from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Khamenei's speech focused on an account of Israel's creation but he also said: "Palestine should be returned to its nation and a government elected by all Palestinians should rule this country."
