Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his Own Words
He termed Zionists "the most detested people in all humanity" and called the extermination of six million Jews during World War II "a myth," claiming that Jews have played up Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust in a bid to extort sympathy for Israel from European governments.
September 18, 2009
"They (the Western powers) launched the myth of the Holocaust. They lied, they put on a show and then they support the Jews…. If as you claim the Holocaust is true, why can a study not be allowed? ... The pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie... a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a mythical claim, and the occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with the Holocaust…This claim is corrupt and the pretext is corrupt. This (the Israeli) regime's days are numbered and it is on its way to collapse. This regime is dying."
(at the annual Al Quds Day rally in Tehran)
May 3, 2009
"Removing present threats requires to put pressure on threat centers. Otherwise, enemies would continue threatening us… [you should] stand up to all threats and make efforts to put further pressure on threat centers in order to get rid of them."
(From address to Iran's academic and scientific community)
April 22, 2009
"Don't be afraid of those Zionists. They are on the verge of death. Their time has passed. Do not surrender your people to them…
"Don't you know the nature of the Zionists? Don't you know who the Zionists are? They came in order to take over our region in its entirety. At first, they said that they wanted [a country] from the Nile to the Euphrates. Once they got settled, they said that there had been a mistake, and that they wanted all the Islamic lands…
"Unless they are put in their place at the very beginning of their conspiracy and fitna, they will jeopardize the security of the whole world, they will jeopardize the security of the whole region… They want the entire world. At their very first step, you must crush their step, crush their leg, so that they do not dare to invade the Islamic lands"
(Speech, carried by Iranian News Channel, IRINN. Source: MEMRI)
April 20, 2009
"After the Second World War, by exploiting the holocaust and under the pretext of protecting the Jews they [the West] made a nation homeless with military expeditions and invasion…they established the most aggressive, racist country in another territory, i.e. Palestine.
"The global Zionism is the complete symbol of racism, which with unreal reliance on religion has tried to misuse the religious beliefs of some unaware people and hide its ugly face… we should try to put an end to the misuse of international means by the Zionists and their supporters."
(Remarks to the United Nations Durban Review Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, April 20, 2009). More
January 28, 2009
"A brief review of the events after World War II shows that the Holocaust issue - with the dimensions they define for it - is an excuse to continue dominance and expansion of influence of the victors, especially America and Britain in the international arena."
"The illegal Zionist regime… has demanded blood money of some victims...and have used some of this money to establish a Zionist regime in the land of Palestine, and have used this excuse to attack Palestine and by killing and displacing the people from their motherland they have occupied their mother land and established a Zionist regime, which is tasked with the job of denying an Islamic power emerging to counter the West.
"The Holocaust is knitted together with liberal democracy. It is the claimants of liberal democracy who support the Holocaust logic and have sanctified it to the degree that no one dares questioning its sanctity.
"Today the Zionists command many centers of power, wealth and the world media and unfortunately they have enthralled many politicians and political parties….
"Also, do not forget that the Zionist network which has created the Holocaust discourse must be made known to the nations..."
(Excerpts from a speech titled, "Holocaust, the Holy Lie of the West" at Sharif University in Tehran)
September 23, 2008
"The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gathers, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support"
"Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse and there is no way for it to out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters….American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit."
(Address to the United Nations General Assembly)
September 18, 2008
"I have heard some say the idea of Greater Israel has expired….I say that the idea of lesser Israel has expired, too."
"We have no problems with these people (Israelis) but they should leave the occupied territories, leave them to their genuine owners and get back to their countries and homes where they originally came from."
"The Holocaust is a lie and the real Holocaust is happening to the Palestinians."
"The Zionist regime (Israel) is going towards its final collapse after 60 years of aggression. The final solution would be a referendum on Palestine's future fate with the participation of all Palestinians, regardless of whether Muslims, Jews or Christians."
"Our nation has no problem with other nations, but as far the Zionist regime is concerned, we do not believe in an Israeli government or an Israeli nation."
(Selected remarks at a press conference in Tehran, as quoted by news services)
August 23, 2008
"About 2,000 organised Zionists and 7,000 to 8,000 agents of Zionism have dragged the world into turmoil. … The powerful hand of the nations will clean these sources of corruption from the face of the earth."
(Speech at a rally in Arak)
"We will witness the dismantling of the corrupt regime (Israel) in the very near future."
(Speech marking "World Mosque Week in Tehran, as quoted by the official IRNA news agency)
May 13, 2008
"This terrorist and criminal state (Israel) is backed by foreign powers, but this regime would soon be swept away by the Palestinians."
(Remarks at press conference in Tehran, as quoted by dpa)
May 8, 2008
"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken."
March 10, 2008
"Resistance is the only way to defeat the Zionists and their masters."
(as quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency)
February 20, 2008
"The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast. … "[
January 30, 2008
"I warn you to abandon the filthy Zionist entity, which has reached the end of the line. It has lost its reason to be and will sooner or later fall. The ones who still support the criminal Zionists should know that the occupiers' days are numbered. … Accept that the life of Zionists will sooner or later come to an end."
(As quoted by IRNA)
"We regret that some people fell victim to the cursed Zionist regime and they are mistaken if they thought this meeting was an achievement for them or helps reinforce the Zionists."
On Zionist control of the West:
"I would now like to ask Western governments to explain which one is right. Are they held captive [by the Zionists] or are they the puppet masters of the Zionists?"
"In both cases, they are accomplice to the crimes of the Zionist regime and they should know that they should be accountable for what they have done."
"They should know that if they are held captive by the Zionists and they do not dissociate themselves from them, they would soon be tried and punished in courts of justice by the powerful hands of nations."
On the Holocaust:
"After the Second World War, they created a scenario called 'pogrom against Jews.' All over
On resettling the Jews from
"...you cannot tolerate the presence of Zionists in
(Al-Quds Day speech)
September 24, 2007
On aliyah to
"...on the other hand, they gather a number of Jews from different parts of the world through false propaganda and with the promise of providing them with welfare, jobs and food, and settle them in the occupied territories, exposing them to the harshest restrictions, psychological pressures and constant threats.
They prevent these people from returning to their homelands and by coercion and propaganda induce them to malevolence toward the indigenous Palestinian people."
Call for "divine justice" in the international community:
"The era of darkness will end. Prisoners will return home. The occupied lands will be freed.
(Speech to UN General Assembly)
August 28, 2007
"Zionists are people without any religion. They are lying about being Jewish because religion means brotherhood, friendship and respecting other divine religions…
They are an organized minority who have infiltrated the world. They are not even a 10,000-strong organization."
(At a news conference in
June 3, 2007
"With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of
(Speech, as quoted by the
March 21, 2007
"It is quite clear that a bunch of Zionist racists are the problem the modern world is facing today. They have access to global power and media centers and seek to use this access to keep the world in a state of hardship, poverty and grudge and strengthen their rule. The great nation of
(from a recorded New Year's message aired on Iranian television)
February 28, 2007
"The Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan . . . Many Western governments that claim to be pioneers of democracy and standard bearers of human rights close their eyes over crimes committed by the Zionists and by remaining silent support the Zionists due to their hedonistic and materialistic tendencies."
(to a meeting of Sudanese Islamic scholars in
December 12, 2006
"Thanks to people's wishes and God's will the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards and this is what God has promised and what all nations want…Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out"
(Comments to Iran's Holocaust Conference)
November 29, 2006
"What have the Zionists done for the American people that the
(Letter from Ahmadinejad "to the American people")
"Israel is destined for destruction and will soon disappear"
Israel is "a contradiction to nature, we foresee its rapid disappearance and destruction."
"The Zionist regime is counterfeit and illegitimate and cannot survive"
(as quoted by Iranian state television)
August 6, 2006
"They (
(as quoted by Khorasan Provincial TV)
"A new
(as quoted by Malaysian news agency Bernama website)
"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented."
(as quoted by Iranian TV)
"Are they human beings?... They (Zionists) are a group of blood-thirsty savages putting all other criminals to shame."
(as quoted by Iranian TV)
"The occupying regime of
(as quoted by Islamic Republic News Agency via the Associated Press)
"The Zionists think that they are victims of Hitler, but they act like Hitler and behave worse than Genghis Khan."
(as quoted by the Iranian News Agency)
"The Zionists and their protectors are the most detested people in all of humanity, and the hatred is increasing every day."
"The worse their crimes, the quicker they will fall."
"[Israel] has blackened the pages of history".
(as quoted by Iranian state television)
"I think we have sufficiently talked about this matter and these Holocaust events need to be further investigated by independent and impartial parties."
"An event that has influenced so many diplomatic and political equations of the world needs to investigated and researched by impartial and independent groups."
"If it is true, then the response to this question should not be solved in Palestine. The Palestinian question should be settled as soon as possible. If it is false, why should such measures be taken against the people of
(a news conference following a meeting with
"I believe the German people are prisoners of the Holocaust. More than 60 million were killed in World War II . . . The question is: Why is it that only the Jews are at the center of attention?"
"We say that if the Holocaust happened, then the Europeans must accept the consequences and the price should not be paid by
(in an interview with
May 11, 2006
Israel is "a regime based on evil that cannot continue and one day will vanish."
(to a student rally in Jakarta, Indonesia)
April 24, 2006
''We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live. Open the doors (of Europe) and let the Jews go back to their own countries."
(In a news conference held on April 24, 2006)
"If there is serious doubt over the Holocaust, there is no doubt over the catastrophe and holocaust being faced by the Palestinians. Holocaust has been continuing in
(In a speech at the opening of the "Support for the Palestinian Intifada" conference on April 14-16 hosted in
February 23, 2006
"These heinous acts are committed by a group of Zionists and occupiers that have failed. They have failed in the face of Islam's logic and justice . . . They invade the shrine and bomb there because they oppose God and justice . . . But be sure, you will not be saved from the wrath and power of the justice-seeking nations by resorting to such acts."
(In a speech broadcast on state television, where Ahmadinejad suggested that the bombing of a major Shiite shrine in Iraq by Sunni insurgents was plotted by Israel and the U.S. to divide Muslims.)
"Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Chatilla has joined his ancestors is final."
(To a group of Muslim clerics in the Iranian city of
"[N]o Muslim nation would put up with this entity [i.e. Israel] in Islamic lands, not for one moment … If it's true that the [Europeans] committed a big crime in World War II, then they must take responsibility for it themselves, and not ask the Palestinian people to pay the price … Those countries that support this regime [Israel] were terrified at the suggestion that [Israel] should be relocated to their neighborhood. So why should the Palestinians and the countries in our region accept this entity?"
(In a speech before an audience in the Iranian city of
"[The creation of Israel after World War II] killed two birds with one stone [for Europe] … [The objectives achieved by Europe were] [s]weeping the Jews out of Europe and at the same time creating a European appendix with a Zionist and anti-Islamic nature in the heart of the Islamic world …Zionism is a Western ideology and a colonialist idea ... and right now it massacres Muslims with direct guidance and help from the United States and a part of Europe ... Zionism is basically a new [form of] fascism."
(In written answers to questions from the public reproduced in several Iranian newspapers)
December 14, 2005
"Today, they [Europeans] have created a myth in the name of Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets … This is our proposal: give a part of your own land in Europe, the
(Speaking to thousands of people in the Iranian city of
December 13, 2005
"If the killing of Jews in
(Comments published on Iranian state television's Web site)
December 8, 2005
"Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces.... Although we don't accept this claim, if we suppose it is true, our question for the Europeans is: Is the killing of innocent Jewish people by Hitler the reason for their support to the occupiers of
(While speaking to reporters at an Islamic summit in
November 27, 2005
"You [the
(During a nationally televised ceremony of the establishment of
October 29, 2005
"They [the
(Marching in a demonstration alongside a crowd of students in
October 28, 2005
"They [International Zionist and Expansionist Policies of the World Arrogance, i.e.
(Defending his earlier comments)
October 26, 2005
"
(In an address to 4,000 students at a program titled, 'The World Without Zionism')
June 19, 2005
"It is not just for a few states to sit and veto global approvals. Should such a privilege continue to exist, the Muslim world with a population of nearly 1.5 billion should be extended the same privilege."
(In an interview with state television shortly before his election)
June 8, 2005
The UN structure is one-sided, stacked against the world of Islam.
(In an interview on state television)
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
