25 April 2006
International
Top Stories
Israel cannot exist: Iran leader
- By Nasser Karimi
Tehran, April 24: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hinted on Monday that Iran was considering withdrawing from the worldwide nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and said he did not think the UN Security Council would impose sanctions on Iran.
"Those who speak about sanctions would be damaged more (than Iran)," he told a press conference. "But no particular event will happen, don't worry." Mr Ahmadinejad said that Iran would reconsider its compliance with NPT and membership of the International Atomic Energy Agency if they continued to be of no benefit to the country.
"What has more than 30 years of membership in the agency given us?" he asked. The agency, a UN body, has accused Iran of failing to answer all questions about its nuclear programme and reported the country to the Security Council for non-compliance with its demands. "Working in the framework of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the agency is our concrete policy," he added. "(But) if we see that they are violating our rights, or they don't want to accept (our rights), well, we will reconsider." The Security Council has given Iran a deadline until Friday to suspend enrichment of uranium, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors material for nuclear warheads. Iran has rejected the demand, arguing it is entitled to the peaceful use of enrichment as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
In wide-ranging remarks, Mr Ahmadinejad said on Monday that Israel was an artificial state that could not continue to exist. "Some 60 years has passed since the end of World War II, why should the people of Germany and Palestine pay now for a war in which the current generation was not involved," Mr Ahmadinejad told a press conference. "We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live," he said. The Iranian President has long campaigned against Israel, saying last October that the Jewish state should be "wiped off the map."
He has said Europe should find a home for Israelis, who should not live on Palestinian land. "Open the doors (of Europe) and let the Jews go back to their own countries," the President said on Monday.
He added that Europeans should jettison their "anti-semitism" to enable Israelis to "return" to their continent, and "allow Palestinians to decide their own fate and live freely."
Mr Ahmadinejad often gives long, rambling speeches but on Monday was one of the rare occasions when he allowed foreign journalists to question him. (AP)