During Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran and the US have had the most
high-profile contact in almost 30 years. Iran and the US froze
diplomatic relations in 1980 and had no direct diplomatic contact until
May 2007.[134]
While the U.S has linked its support for a Palestinian state to acceptance of Israel's "right to exist," Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has retorted that Israel should be moved to Europe instead,[135] reiterating Muammar al-Gaddafi's 1990 statement.[136]
The U.S. has sent signals to Iran that its posturing against Israel's
right to exist is unacceptable in their opinion, leading to increased
speculation of a U.S. led attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Even
though Iran has denied involvement in Iraq, then-President Bush warned
of "consequences," sending a clear message to Iran that the U.S may take
military action against it.[135] The Bush administration considered Iran to be the world's leading state supporter of terrorism. Iran has been on the U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism since 1984,[137][138][139] a claim that Iran and Ahmadinejad have denied.
On 8 May 2006, Ahmadinejad sent a personal letter to then-President Bush to propose "new ways" to end Iran's nuclear dispute.[140] U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley
both reviewed the letter and dismissed it as a negotiating ploy and
publicity stunt that did not address U.S. concerns about Iran's nuclear
program.[141] A few days later at a meeting in Jakarta, Ahmadinejad said, "the letter was an invitation to monotheism and justice, which are common to all divine prophets."[142]
Ahmadinejad invited Bush to a debate at the United Nations General Assembly,
which was to take place on 19 September 2006. The debate was to be
about Iran's right to enrich uranium. The invitation was rejected by
White House spokesman Tony Snow, who said "There's not going to be a steel-cage grudge match between the President and Ahmadinejad."[143]
On November 2006, Ahmadinejad wrote an open letter to the American people,[144]
representing some of his anxieties and concerns. He stated that there
is an urgency to have a dialog because of the activities of the US
administration in the Middle East, and that the US is concealing the
truth about current realities.[145]
The United States Senate passed a resolution warning Iran about
attacks in Iraq. On 26 September 2007, the United States Senate passed a
resolution 76–22 and labeled an arm of the Iranian military as a
terrorist organization.
In September 2007 Ahmadinejad visited New York to address the General Assembly of the United Nations. On the same trip, Columbia University
invited Ahmadinejad to visit and participate in a debate. The
invitation was a controversial one for the university, as was university
president Lee Bollinger's
introduction in which he described the Iranian leader as a "cruel and
petty dictator" and his views as "astonishingly uneducated."[146]
Taking questions from Columbia faculty and students who attended his
address, Ahmadinejad answered a series of questions, including a query
about the treatment of gays in Iran by saying: "We don't have
homosexuals like in your country. We don't have that in our country. We
don't have this phenomenon; I don't know who's told you we have it." An
aide later claimed that he was misrepresented and was actually saying
that "compared to American society, we don't have many homosexuals".[147]
In a speech given in April 2008, Ahmadinejad described the September 11, 2001 attacks
as a "suspect event." He minimized the attacks by saying all that had
happened was, "a building collapsed." He claimed that the death toll was
never published, that the victims' names were never published, and that
the attacks were used subsequently as pretext for the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.[148]
In October 2008, President Ahmadinejad expressed his happiness of 2008 global economic crisis
and what he called "collapse of liberalism". He said the West has been
driven to deadend and that Iran was proud "to put an end to liberal
economy".[149]
Ahmadinejad used a September 2008 speech to the General Assembly of the
United Nations to assert the American empire is soon going to end
without specifying how. "The American empire in the world is reaching
the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference
to their own borders," Ahmadinejad said.[150]
On November 6, 2008 (two days after the 2008 US Presidential Election), President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Barack Obama,
the newly elected President of the United States, and said that he
"Welcomes basic and fair changes in U.S. policies and conducts, I hope
you will prefer real public interests and justice to the never-ending
demands of a selfish minority and seize the opportunity to serve people
so that you will be remembered with high esteem". It is the first
congratulatory message to a new elected President of the United States
by an Iranian President since the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis.[151]
Relations with Israel
On 26 October 2005 Ahmadinejad gave a speech at a conference in Tehran entitled "World Without Zionism". According to widely published translations, he agreed with a statement he attributed to Ayatollah Khomeini
that the "occupying regime" had to be removed, and referred to it as a
"disgraceful stain [on] the Islamic world", that needed to be "wiped
from the pages of history."[152]
Ahmadinejad's comments were condemned by major Western governments, the European Union, Russia, the United Nations Security Council and then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.[153] Egyptian, Turkish and Palestinian leaders also expressed displeasure over Ahmadinejad's remark.[154] Canada's then Prime Minister Paul Martin
said, “this threat to Israel's existence, this call for genocide
coupled with Iran's obvious nuclear ambitions is a matter that the world
cannot ignore.”[155]
The translation of his statement has been disputed. Iran's foreign
minister stated that Ahmadinejad had been "misunderstood": "He is
talking about the regime. We do not recognise legally this regime."[156]
Some experts state that the phrase in question (بايد از صفحه روزگار محو
شود) is more accurately translated as "eliminated" or "wiped off" or
"wiped away" (lit. "should disappear") from "the page of time" or "the
pages of history", rather than "wiped off the map".[157] Reviewing the controversy over the translation, New York Times deputy foreign editor Ethan Bronner
observed that "all official translations" of the comments, including
the foreign ministry and president's office, "refer to wiping Israel
away".[158] Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, an Israel-based professor with ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in a paper for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, examined the language that President Ahmadinejad has used when discussing Israel. Using Persian translations from Dr. Denis MacEoin, a former lecturer in Islamic studies
in the United Kingdom, Teitelbaum wrote that "the Iranian president was
not just calling for “regime change” in Jerusalem, but rather the
actual physical destruction of the State of Israel," and asserted that
Ahmadinejad was advocating the genocide of its residents as well.
Teitelbaum said that in a speech given on 26 October 2005, Ahmadinejad
said the following about Israel: "Soon this stain of disgrace will be
cleaned from the garment of the world of Islam, and this is attainable."
Teitelbaum said that this type of dehumanizing rhetoric is a documented
prelude to genocide incitement. Dr. Juan Cole,
a professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the
University of Michigan, has argued that Ahmadinejad was not calling for
the destruction of Israel, “Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe
Israel off the map because no such idiom exists in Persian.” Dr. Stephen Walt, a professor of international affairs at Harvard University has said “I don’t think he is inciting to genocide."[159] According to Gawdat Bahgat of the National Defense University,
"the fiery calls to destroy Israel are meant to mobilize domestic and
regional constituencies" and that "Rhetoric aside, most analysts agree
that the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state are not likely to engage
in a military confrontation against each other."[160]
In July 2006, Ahmadinejad compared Israel's actions in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict to Adolf Hitler's actions during World War II saying that "like Hitler, the Zionist regime is just looking for a pretext for launching military attacks" and "is now acting just like him."[161] On 8 August 2006, he gave a television interview to Mike Wallace, a correspondent for 60 Minutes, in which he questioned American support of Israel's "murderous regime" and the moral grounds for Israel's invasion of Lebanon.[162] On 2 December 2006, Ahmadinejad met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah in Doha, Qatar.
At that meeting, he said that Israel "was created to establish dominion
of arrogant states over the region and to enable the enemy to penetrate
the heart Muslim land." He called Israel a "threat" and said it was
created to create tensions in and impose US and UK policies upon the
region.[163] On 12 December 2006, Ahmadinejad addressed the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust,
and made comments about the future of Israel. He said, "Israel is about
to crash. This is God's promise and the wish of all the world's
nations."[164]
When CNN's Larry King
asked Ahmadinejad "does Israel remain Israel" in his version of the
Middle East, Ahmadinejad suggested that throughout the Palestinian
territories free elections for all be conducted under the supervision of
international organizations. Ahmadinejad suggested that "...we must
allow free elections to happen in Palestine under the supervision of the
United Nations. And the Palestinian people, the displaced Palestinian
people, or whoever considers Palestine its land, can participate in free
elections. And then whatever happens as a result could happen."[165]
Relations with Russia
Ahmadinejad has moved to strengthen relations with Russia, setting up
an office expressly dedicated to the purpose in October 2005. He has
worked with Vladimir Putin
on the nuclear issue, and both Putin and Ahmadinejad have expressed a
desire for more mutual cooperation on issues involving the Caspian Sea.[166]
More recently, Iran has been increasingly pushed into an alliance with
Moscow due to the controversy over Iran's nuclear program. By late
December 2007, Russia began to deliver enriched batches of nuclear fuel
to Iran as a way of persuading Iran to end self-enrichment.
Relations with Venezuela
Ahmadinejad has sought to develop ties with other world leaders that are also opposed to U.S. foreign policy and influence like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.[167] Venezuela voted in favor of Iran's nuclear program before the United Nations,[168] and both governments have sought to develop more bilateral trade.[169] As of 2006, the ties between the two countries are strategic rather than economic;[167] Venezuela is still not one of Iran's major trading partners.[170]
Regional relations
Immediately after the Islamic Revolution, Iran's relations with most of its neighbors, particularly those with large Shi'a minorities, were severely strained.[171]
Ahmadinejad's priority in the region has been to improve ties with most
of Iran's neighbors in order to strengthen Iran's status and influence
in both the Middle East and Greater Muslim World. [172]
Turkey has always been important in the region due to its ties to the West through NATO, Israel,[173] and its potential entry into the European Union. Ahmadinejad visited Ankara to reinforce relations with Turkey immediately after the 2007 NIE report was released.[174] Relations were briefly strained after President Abdullah Gul had stated that he wants the atomic threat to be eliminated from the region, perhaps a hint to Iran;[175] however, business has remained cordial between the two countries.[176] Despite US disapproval, they signed a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline deal in late 2007.[176][177]
Iran's relations with the Arab states have been complex, partly due to the Islamic Revolution[171] of decades ago, as well as more recent efforts by the United States to establish a united front against Iran over the nuclear issue and War on Terror.[178]
Ahmadinejad has sought reconciliation with the Arab states by
encouraging bilateral trade and posturing for Iranian entry into the Gulf Cooperation Council.[179] Outside the Persian Gulf, Ahmadinejad has sought to reestablish relations with other major Arab states, most notably Egypt.[180] As of 2007, Iran did not have an open embassy there.[180]
Iran's ties to Syria have been most notable in the West. Both nations have had to deal with international and regional isolation.[181] Both have cordial ties to the militant group, Hezbollah,[182] and concerns over Iran-Syria relations were further exacerbated following the 2006 Lebanon War,[183] which both Ahmadinejad and President Assad claimed as a victory over Israel.[182]
Ahmadinejad has also tried to develop stronger, more intimate ties with both Afghanistan and Pakistan, to ensure "regional stability."[184] In particular, Ahmadinejad is interested in more bilateral talks between Iran and both Afghanistan and Pakistan.[184] His administration has helped establish the "peace pipeline" from Iran that will eventually fuel both Pakistan and India. In theory, the plan will help to integrate South Asian economies, and, thus to calm tensions between Pakistan and India.[185]
Ahmadinejad met foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan to discuss increased cooperation between the two nations.[186]
Mammadyarov also expressed desire to expand the North-South corridor
between Iran and Azerbaijan and to launch cooperative projects for power plant construction.[186] Iran has also redoubled efforts to forge ties with Armenia; during Ahmadinejad's visit in October 2007 the discussions were focused on developing energy ties between the two countries.[187]
Afghanistan
Due to the similar culture and language Iran has with Afghanistan, the two countries have historically been close and, even though the US has a military presence in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan maintains he wants Iran to be one of its closest allies.[188][189]
At Camp David in August 2007, Karzai rejected the U.S. claim that Iran
backs Afghan militants. Karzai described Iran as "a helper and a
solution," and "a supporter of Afghanistan", both in "the fight against
terror, and the fight against narcotics". He called relations between
Afghanistan and Iran "very, very good, very, very close ".[190] Iran is also the largest regional donor to Afghanistan. Al-Arabiya
television, considered by many Western sources as a more neutral Middle
Eastern media network, said "Shi'a Iran has close ethnic and religious
ties with Afghanistan."[191]
Iraq
Ahmadinejad was the first Iranian president to visit Iraq.[192] Ahmadinejad, in Baghdad 2 March 2008 for the start of a historic two-day trip, said that "visiting Iraq without the dictator Saddam Hussein is a good thing."[193]
Heading home after a two-day visit to Iraq, Ahmadinejad again touted
his country's closer relations with Iraq and reiterated his criticism of
the United States.[194]
United Nations
On September 23, 2009, Ahmadinejad gave a speech to the UN General
Assembly which focused on accusing Western powers of spreading "war,
bloodshed, aggression, terror and intimidation" in the Middle East and
Afghanistan. He also promised that Tehran was "prepared to warmly shake
all those hands which are honestly extended to us". But he accused the
West of hypocrisy - saying it preached democracy yet violated its
fundamental principles - and added that it was time for the world to
respond.
"The awakening of nations and the expansion of freedom worldwide will
no longer allow them to continue their hypocrisy and vicious
attitudes," he said.[195]
He also spoke out against Israel for its "barbaric" attack on the
Gaza Strip, "inhuman policies" in the Palestinian territories and what
he called its domination of world political and economic affairs.the end
of which focused largely on the plight of the people of Palestine and a
blaming of Israel, though without mentioning the nation or Jews,
referring only to "the occupiers" and "the Zionist regime".
"How can the crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and
children... be supported unconditionally by certain governments,"
Ahmadinejad asked. "And at the same time, the oppressed men and women be
subject to genocide and heaviest economic blockade being denied their
basic needs, food, water and medicine?"
"It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the
politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its
complicated networks," he added. And he accused the so-called Zionist
regime of seeking to "establish a new form of slavery, and harm the
reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain
its racist ambitions." His remarks culminated in France leading a walkout of a dozen delegations, including the United States
in protest. "It is disappointing that Mr Ahmadinejad has once again
chosen to espouse hateful, offensive and anti-Semitic rhetoric," Mark
Kornblau, spokesman to the US mission to the United Nations, said in a
statement. Delegations from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica,
Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and the United
States left the room as Ahmadinejad began to rail against Israel. Israel
had already called for a boycott of the speech, and was not present
when the Iranian leader began his address. Canada had already said it
would heed the boycott call.[196][197]
Allegations of Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism
Controversies
On 14 December 2005, Ahmadinejad made several controversial statements about the Holocaust, repeatedly referring to it as a "myth," as well as criticizing European laws against Holocaust denial.
According to a report from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting,
Ahmadinejad said, referring to Europeans, "Today, they have created a
myth in the name of Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion
and the prophets."[198]
The quote has also translated as "They have created a myth today that
they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above
God, religions and the prophets."[199]
In a 30 May 2006 interview with Der Spiegel,
Ahmadinejad insisted there were "two opinions" on the Holocaust. When
asked if the Holocaust was a myth, he responded "I will only accept
something as truth if I am actually convinced of it." He also said, "We
are of the opinion that, if a historical occurrence conforms to the
truth, this truth will be revealed all the more clearly if there is more
research into it and more discussion about it". He then argued that
"most" scholars who recognized the existence of the Holocaust are
"politically motivated," stating that:
"...there are two opinions on this in Europe. One group of scholars
or persons, most of them politically motivated, say the Holocaust
occurred. Then there is the group of scholars who represent the opposite
position and have therefore been imprisoned for the most part."[200]
In August 2006, the Iranian leader was reported to have again cast
doubt on the existence of the Holocaust, this time in a letter to German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, where he wrote that the Holocaust may have been invented by the Allied powers to embarrass Germany.[201]
During the same month, in a public speech that aired on the Iranian
News Channel (IRINN), Ahmadinejad reportedly implied that Zionists may
not be human beings, saying “They have no boundaries, limits, or taboos
when it comes to killing human beings. Who are they? Where did they come
from? Are they human beings? ‘They are like cattle, nay, more
misguided.’”[202]
On 11 December 2006 the "International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust" was held in Iran.[203] The conference was called for by and held at the request of Ahmadinejad.[204]
Western media widely condemned the conference and described it as a
"Holocaust denial conference" or a "meeting of Holocaust deniers",[205] though Iran maintained that it was not a Holocaust denial
conference, commenting the conference was meant to "create an
opportunity for thinkers who cannot express their views freely in Europe
about the Holocaust".[206]
In his September 2007 appearance at Columbia University, Ahmadinejad stated "I'm not saying that it didn't happen at all. This is not judgment that I'm passing here"[207] and that the Holocaust should be left open to debate and research like any other historical event.[208]
At the 18 September 2009 Quds Day
ceremonies in Tehran, he stated that "the pretext for establishing the
Zionist regime is a lie, a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a
mythical claim, (as) the occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with
the Holocaust".[209]
He also referred to the Holocaust as a sealed "black box" asking why
western powers refuse permission for the claim to be "examined and
surveyed". — what the New York Times considered "among his harshest statements on the topic,"[210] and one immediately condemned by the US, UK, French and German governments.[211]
Widely interpreted as referring to the Holocaust, the media have been
criticized for lack of objectivity by reporting the quote without
context as it could equally be interpreted as referring to Israel's
Biblical claims to the land of Palestine.[212]
In response to some of Ahmadinejad's controversial statements and actions, a variety of sources, including the U.S. Senate,[213] have accused Ahmadinejad of anti-Semitism.
Ahmadinejad's September 2008 speech to the UN General Assembly, in
which he dwelled on what he described as Zionist control of
international finance, was also denounced as "blatant anti-Semitism" by
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.[214]
American President Barack Obama posed a direct challenge to Ahmadinejad during his June 2009 visit to Buchenwald concentration camp,
saying that Ahmadinejad "should make his own visit" to the camp and
that "[t]his place is the ultimate rebuke to such thoughts, a reminder
of our duty to confront those who would tell lies about our history".[215]
In October 2008, Ahmadinejad's statements on the Holocaust were criticized within Iran by cleric and presidential hopeful Mahdi Karroubi.[216][217]
Khamenei's main adviser in foreign policy, Ali Akbar Velayati,
refused to take part in Ahmadinejad's Holocaust conference. In contrast
to Ahmadinejad's remarks, Velayati said that the Holocaust was a genocide and a historical reality.[218]
Response to allegations
Ahmadinejad has denied allegations of Holocaust denial[219] and acknowledged that it seems the West is right in its claim of the Holocaust:
"If the Europeans are telling the truth in their claim that they have
killed six million Jews in the Holocaust during the World War II –
which seems they are right in their claim because they insist on it and
arrest and imprison those who oppose it, why the Palestinian nation
should pay for the crime. Why have they come to the very heart of the
Islamic world and are committing crimes against the dear Palestine using
their bombs, rockets, missiles and sanctions.[220]
Ahmadinejad has said he respects Jews and that "in Palestine there
are Muslims, Christians and Jews who live together". He added, "We love
everyone in the world – Jews, Christians, Muslims, non-Muslims,
non-Jews, non-Christians... We are against occupation, aggression,
killings and displacing people – otherwise we have no problem with
ordinary people."[221]
Ahmadinejad has further said the Jewish community in Iran has its own
independent member of parliament. Ahmadinejad has argued Zionists are
"neither Jews nor Christians nor Muslims", and has asked "How can you
possibly be religious and occupy the land of other people?"[165]
Shiraz Dossa, a professor at St. Francis Xavier University, in Nova Scotia, Canada, argued in June 2007 that
Ahmadinejad has not denied the Holocaust or proposed Israel’s
liquidation; he has never done so in any of his speeches on the subject
(all delivered in Persian). As an Iran specialist, I can attest that
both accusations are false... What Ahmadinejad has questioned is the
mythologizing, the sacralization, of the Holocaust and the “Zionist
regime’s” continued killing of Palestinians and Muslims. He has even
raised doubts about the scale of the Holocaust. His rhetoric has been
excessive and provocative. And he does not really care what we in the
West think about Iran or Muslims; he does not kowtow to western or
Israeli diktat.[222]
Dossa was criticized in Canadian media, by university president Sean Riley, and by 105 professors[223] at his university for his attendance at Tehran's Holocaust conference.[224]
Dossa replied he did not know Holocaust deniers would be in attendance,
that he has "never denied the Holocaust, only noted its propaganda
power", and that the university should respect his academic freedom to
participate.[225]
