Following are excerpts from an address by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which aired on Jaam-e Jam 2 TV on February 11, 2006.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The affront to the honor of the Prophet of Islam it is in fact an affront to the worship of God, and to the seeking of truth and justice, and an affront to all the prophets of God. Obviously, all those who harm the honor of the prophet of Islam...
Crowd: Death to Denmark.
Death to Denmark.
Death to Denmark.
Death to Denmark.
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Ahmadinejad: As the representative of the great Iranian people, I call upon all free people of the world – Christians and Jews – to rise together with the Muslims and not to let a handful of shameless Zionists, who have been defeated in Palestine, to harm the sanctity of the prophets.
I call upon them not to let a few weak governments - which owe their rise to power to the support of the Zionists - support them in this ugly manner.
As I have said before, as far as several aggressive European governments are concerned, and as far as the Great Satan [the U.S.] is concerned, it is permissible to harm the honor of the divine prophets, but it is a crime to ask questions about the myth of the Holocaust, and about how the false regime occupying Palestine came into being.
On the basis of this myth, the pillaging Zionist regime has managed, for 60 years, to extort all Western governments and to justify its crimes in the occupied lands – killing women and children, demolishing homes, and turning defenseless people into refugees.
When we protest to the [Europeans], they say: "There is freedom in our country." They are lying when they claim they have freedom. They are hostages in the hands of the Zionists. The people of Europe and America are the ones that should be paying the heavy price of this hostage-taking.
How come it is allowed to harm the honor of the prophets in your country, but it is forbidden to research the myth of the Holocaust? You are a bunch of tyrants, who are dependent upon the Zionists and who are held hostage by them.
We proposed the following: If you are not lying, allow a group of neutral, honest researchers to come to Europe, and to talk to people, examine documents, and let people know the findings of their research about the Holocaust myth. You have even prevented your own scholars from researching this issue. They are allowed to study anything except for the Holocaust myth. Are these not medieval methods?
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Even today, a group of people convene and declare: "We rule that the Holocaust happened, and everybody must think the same." This is a medieval way of thinking. On the face of it, the technology has changed, but the culture and the way of thinking remain medieval. If you are looking for the real Holocaust, you should look for it in Palestine. Over there, the pillaging Zionists are massacring the Palestinian people every day. If you are looking for the crimes of the Holocaust, you should find them among the oppressed people of Iraq. Today, all the people throughout the world are familiar with your methods and your way of thinking. Your behavior is the essence of Western liberalism.
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Until now, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been operating, on nuclear affairs, within the framework of the IAEA and the NPT. But if we see that you are trying, on the basis of these regulations, to deny the Iranian people of its right, you should know that the Iranian people will reconsider its policies.
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You have destroyed the prestige of the NPT. You should know that the Iranian people will not give up its indisputable right. Hear this: this is the voice of the Iranian people. It is expressing its opinion about nuclear energy clearly. Hear this: Nuclear energy is our indisputable right.
Crowd: Nuclear energy is our indisputable right.
Nuclear energy is our indisputable right.
Nuclear energy is our indisputable right.
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Ahmadinejad: You should be grateful that our people has acted nobly towards you so far, and has been patient. We want to remain patient. Don't make us lose our patience. The peoples have awakened. The world of Islam has awakened. Do not make us reconsider our policies.