Following are excerpts from an address delivered by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which aired on Jaam-e Jam 1 TV on October 20, 2006:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: This [Zionist regime] was established in order to swallow up the entire region, and to place it at the disposal of the world forces. It is a big lie that it was done in order to protect those killed in World War II, and in order to compensate them.
Over 60 million people were killed in World War II. Let's assume you are right, and six million [Jews] were among those killed. How come none of you mourn the other 54 million? Why don't you pay reparations to them? Why don't you ever think about them? All your sorrow, your pity, your mourning cries are over [victims] who were counted by I don't know whom...
Obviously, some of the Western countries are being held hostage today by the Zionists. Some Western countries have been paying reparations for 60 years. We sent letters and messages, and asked them: "When will these relations, which evolved from World War II, come to an end?" A war broke out 60 years ago, and some considered themselves the victors in this war. They occupied Palestine. They set up bases throughout the world, and want to act aggressively against all the peoples. They also gave themselves privileges in the international forums, and the other peoples must submit to their control. We asked them when these relations would come to an end. We asked the leader of one of these countries: "Until when will your people have to pay reparations?" For two generations? Three generations? For a 100 years? A 1,000 years? A few thousand years?
The existence of this regime is so essential for these countries that in some of them, they even built monuments. You know that every country builds monuments for the objects of their pride. They take their children, from an early age, to show them these monuments, in order to help them develop their identity, and to instill in their memory the things that make them proud, in order to feel power and honor. In some of these countries, they set up monuments, whose purpose was to degrade that very nation. From an early age, they take their children and say to them: "Look, our ancestors were murderers. Our ancestors used to burn people. We are in debt."
Something happened three generations ago. Let's assume it was true. What is the crime of the youth born in Europe today? What is the crime of people living in the world today that they have to pay reparations so high they cannot even be calculated? The peoples have to pay any sum decreed by America and England. What is the reason for this? When will there be an end to these claims? What is their limit? What does America have to do with this? Why does America extort the world, under the pretext of the Holocaust? Why does England extort [the world]? Wasn't it England that laid the foundations for the fear that led the Jews to flee to the occupied lands?
They said: "We want to establish a place for the survivors." How many survivors were there? With false promises, you gathered the wretched people from Africa, South America, Asia, and North America, and you brought them there. You banished one people from its land, and you want to create another people by force. Why? Why? Are all those now living in Palestine survivors of the war? We asked [these Westerners]: "The current leader of the Zionist regime – where did his parents live? Where were they?" As you know, some of the leaders of the Zionist regime are in fact Iranians.
[...]
The life of this regime depended on military threat, military force, and the legend that it was invincible. Today, with God's grace, this false legend has collapsed, with the help of the young believers of Palestine, and thanks to the believing, self-sacrificing commanders of Hizbullah. Today, the Zionists do not feel secure even in their own homes, anywhere in the world.
Today, this community, which was gathered by force, and under false pretexts, and whose members were joined to one another by a paper-clip, in order to create a false illusion of a nation... Today, they have fallen apart. I declare here, loud and clear: With God's grace, this regime has lost the philosophy of its existence.
[...]
I said to them: If you do not agree, open the doors, open the gates, and allow these uninvited guests return to their countries. Let them return to their homeland. If the Western countries that support the Zionists feel sympathetic toward them, they should give them financial aid, so that they can live in their own countries.
[...]
We have some advice for the supporters of this regime. We say to them: First of all, do not seek a new crime. Every crime being perpetrated today, every youth who dies in Palestine today, every home that is demolished, and every incursion into the neighboring countries will be accredited to the supporters of this regime, and the nations will exact their revenge.
[…]
Our proposal is as follows: Since you brought [this regime] over there, you yourselves pick it up, by the arms and legs, and remove it from there. This will make the peoples of the region improve their attitude toward you. These will be the first steps to a long-lasting friendship with the peoples of the region. This will be to your advantage.
You may say: "We feel uncomfortable doing this, because the Zionists control our countries, the propaganda machinery is at their disposal, and if we want to gain voters, we need their money and their support. Therefore, we feel uncomfortable doing this."
Fine. We made you another proposal: Allow that which you advocate take place in Palestine. After all, you advocate democracy, and you claim that the peoples should control their own destiny. So let the Palestinian people decide upon its own path by means of a referendum. In response, you say: "We might lose our reputation." Our response is: You have no reputation left anyway! Where do you still have a reputation anywhere in the world?
In the recent war in Lebanon, you saw with your own eyes that the whole world was against you. Even in Argentina, where the Zionists devise conspiracies, generate strife, and put pressure on the Argentinean administration, the people took to the streets.
[...]
This [Zionist] regime is on the verge of death, and we advise you to start thinking about your long-term interests and long term relations with the peoples of the region. At the end of the day, these are all ultimatums. No-one should complain tomorrow. The things are stated clearly.
[...]
What is this Security Council anyway? The whole world knows that America and England are the enemies of the Iranian nation.
Crowd: Allah Akbar.
Allah Akbar.
Khamenei is the leader.
Death to those who oppose the rule of the jurisprudent
Death to America
Death to England
Death to the hypocrites and Saddam
Death to Israel
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: They have taken control of the leading positions in the Security Council, and have the right of veto, and they are prosecuting and judging us, and they want to carry out the verdict. Sir, this is the logic of pharaonic times. The days of this logic are over. The Security Council, in its present condition, is illegitimate. Its resolutions are illegitimate. Do you want to be the judges, the rulers, the prosecutors, and those who carry out the verdicts? These days are over. Nobody accepts this behavior of yours. Even the illiterate old women of the Himalayas will not accept this behavior of yours.