News Brief – October 20, 2006
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Europe it 'may get hurt' if it continues to support Israel.
Mr Ahmadinejad said Europe was stirring up hatred in the Middle East by backing Israel and warned that anger in the region could boil over.
He said: 'You should believe that this regime cannot last and has no more benefit to you.
'What benefit have you got in supporting this regime, except the hatred of the nations?'
'We have advised the Europeans that the Americans are far away, but you are the neighbours of the nations in this region.
'We inform you that the nations are like an ocean that is welling up, and if a storm begins, the dimensions will not stay limited to Palestine, and you may get hurt.'
Speaking at a pro-Palestinian rally in Tehran, Mr Ahmadinejad also said the UK and America were enemies of Iran and were using the UN Security Council to be "the judge, the complainant and the enforcer".
"But the time for such logic has passed," he added. "No one accepts this from you."
Ahmadinejad launched another scathing attack on Israel, which he said had lost the reason for its existence and would soon disappear.
With words that are likely to further inflame tensions with Israel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again questioned the extent of the Holocaust.
Israel was founded on "claims about the Holocaust" for which the Palestinians were paying the price today, he told the rally.
According to some observers, the tone of his speech was hard-line, even by Ahmadinejad’s standards.
Calling Israel’s leaders “a group of terrorists”, he warned that Muslims around the world would one day make them pay for their crimes.
In a clear sign that Iran had no intention of scaling back its nuclear program Ahmadinejad told the rally: "We promise to produce (nuclear fuel) in the next five years and will sell it (to the West) at a 50 percent discount."
Last updated 23/10/2006
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