Iran denounces EU, US reactions against anti-Israel remark
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-19 10:50

Iran on Sunday rejected the reactions of the European Union (EU) and the United States on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent anti-Israel remarks, terming it as illogical.

"Remark by the Iranian president on the Zionist regime was a scientific debate. It is not a new issue," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

"I am surprised with the approaches taken towards this scientific debate. The type of reaction the Europeans and the westerners have shown to the president's remark has no place in the civilized world," Asefi added.

Asefi, criticizing the Europeans for being "used to indulging in monologue", said the EU should "learn to hear the opposite viewpoints too instead of violating the recognized norms".

Asefi's denounce came just one day after the EU leaders in Brussels condemned Ahmadinejad's recent anti-Israel comments.

Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that the Holocaust is a "myth" invented by Europe to establish a Jewish state in the Middle East, refreshing his call that Israel be move out of the region.

The hardline president also said that it was the European countries that should pay the price to compensate the Jewish people who were oppressed during the World War II if they believe the Holocaust was true.

In late October, Ahmadinejad had called on Israel to be "wiped off the map".

His recent anti-Israel comments has also drawn strong condemnation from Washington.

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