Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hassaid that "the real holocaust is happening in the Palestinian territories," Iranian televisionreported Monday.
During an historical visit to Iraq, Ahmadinejad added that "the Zionist regime is killing innocent Palestinian women and children and destroying their homes... the international organizations are afraid to react, since they are bound by the aggressive powers."
Ahmadinejad went on to lash out at the United States calling the foreign presence in Iraq an "insult to the regional nations and a humiliation."
"We believe that the major powers who have come to the region from thousands of kilometers away should respect the will of nations and leave this region. That's the best service they can offer these nations," he said.
Ahmadinejad, who was warmly received by President Jalal Talabani and other Iraqi leaders during his official trip - the first by an Iranian president to Iraq - said Tehran and Baghdad are "brotherly" nations who share many beliefs and values, adding that "of course, dictators and foreigners have tried to tarnish and undermine the emotional relations between the two states."
In meeting with Shiite clerics and prominent Turkish figures, Ahmadinejad said that Iran and Iraq are "global leaders of moral and justice," adding the two were "in the forefront of the fight for justice, kindness and morality."
Dudi Cohen contributed to this report