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The MEMRI Daily - Iran: October 28, 2010

The following is research published today from the MEMRI Iran Studies Project, including reports from the MEMRI Special Dispatch Series.

• For more from the MEMRI Iran Studies Project visithttp://www.memri.org/content/en/country.htm?country=iran.
• Also visit the Iran blog daily, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/108/0/4712.htm.

Inquiry and Analysis No. 642—Lantos Archives on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial

New Approach among Ahmadinejad's Circle: The Jews Are Victims of a Western-Zionist Conspiracy that Threatens their Religious Identity and their Very Existence

By: A. Savyon and Y. Mansharof*

Introduction

The approach of the Iranian regime towards Israel, the Zionist state, is unambiguous: Tehran rejects its right to exist and calls for its Jewish inhabitants to return to their countries of origin. An ostensibly democratic solution to the Palestinian issue, which Tehran has endorsed, is to hold a referendum about the future of Palestine among all the Palestinians – in Palestine and the diaspora – and among all Jews who lived in Palestine before the U.N. partition resolution of 1947, and their descendents. Since the Jews will form a minority among the voters, the referendum will yield a decision to dismantle the Zionist state, thus eliminating this state by "democratic" means.

Though Islamic Iran rejects Judaism as a nationality, it does recognize it as a religion; furthermore, since Jews belong to Ahl Al-Kitab (the People of the Book), Iran is obliged to recognize their right to practice their faith under Islamic rule, though with certain constraints set out by Islamic law. (This is the ideological basis for the alliance between the Iranian regime and the Orthodox Jewish movement of Neturei Karta, which likewise rejects the Zionist national ethos). At the same time, it should be noted that Iran is one of the leading forces championing and spreading the new antisemitism in today's world.

It should also be noted that, despite the ostensibly clear distinction between Israelis/Zionists and Jews, Iranian spokesmen frequently confuse the two terms, referring to Jews sometimes as a religious group and sometimes as a national one.

To read in full, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/108/0/4709.htm.

Special Dispatch No. 3326—U.S. and the Arab & Muslim World

Ahmadinejad in NY, September 2010 – Meeting with Farrakhan, Addressing U.N. General Assembly; Full Text of U.N. Speech

In September 2010, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in New York for a week, for the U.N. General Assembly. On September 20, he dined at the Warwick Hotel in New York with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and 100 Muslim leaders from across the U.S.

Farrakhan (top left) speaks at dinner; in center, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki,
Ahmadinejad, Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Mohammad Khazaee.

Left to right: Mustapha Farrakhan, Supreme Captain of the Nation of Islam; Farrakhan; Ahmadinejad; Joshua Farrakhan; Imam Siraj Wahhaj, amir of the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA); unidentified Iranian official; Khazaee.

Farrakhan later spoke briefly about the dinner, describing how the media deviously portrayed the event as subversive and secretive. "Ahmadinejad said since the Holocaust you say took place in Europe, you should have asked the Germans to carve out some of Germany... The Palestinians did not kill them. The Palestinians did not put them in ovens. The Palestinians did not segregate them and make them put on a Jewish star so they can be dealt with." It was their own Gentile brothers who targeted the Jews, he said.

On September 23, Ahmadinejad addressed the 65th annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The following is the full text of his speech, as provided in English by the Iranian news agency IRNA:

"Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

"I am grateful to the Almighty God who granted me the opportunity to appear before this world assembly once again. I wish to begin by commemorating those who lost their lives in the horrible flood in Pakistan and express my heartfelt sympathy with the families who lost their loved ones as well as with the people and the government of Pakistan. I urge everyone to assist their fellow men and women as a humane duty.

"Let me thank H.E. Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, the President of the the sixty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, for all his efforts during his tenure. I also would like to congratulate H.E. Mr. Joseph Deiss, the President of the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly and wish him all success.

"In the past years, I spoke to you about some of the hopes and concerns, including family crises, security, human dignity, world economy, climate change as well as the aspiration for justice and lasting peace.

"After about one hundred years of domination, the system of Capitalism and the existing world order has proved to be unable to provide appropriate solution to the problems of societies, thus coming to an end. I shall try to examine the two main causes of this failure and picture some features of the ideal future order.

To read in full, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/108/0/4710.htm.

Special Dispatch No. 3327—U.S. and the Arab and Muslim World

IRGC Navy Commander Admiral Ali Fadavi: If the Americans Violate Iranian Territorial Waters 'Even If Only by a Few Centimeters,' We Will 'Confront Them Forcefully'

In a recent TV interview, IRGC Navy Commander Admiral Ali Fadavi warned that if the U.S., Britain, or any other foreign country were to violate Iranian territorial waters, Iran would "definitely confront them forcefully and resolutely."

In the interview, which aired on the Iranian Al-Alam TV on September 26, 2010, Fadavi said: "If the Americans transgress – even if only by a few centimeters – and if they fail to follow the international laws, while passing through the Strait of Hormuz or opposite the Iranian shore, we will definitely confront them forcefully."

Following are excerpts from the interview.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2617.htm.

The Americans "Are Always Trying to Sow the Seeds of Strife in This Region"

Admiral Ali Fadavi: "The Americans have always been preparing for hostility against Iran. 327 American ships are present in the waters of the Persian Gulf. They brought all these fleets. This is not something new that the Americans are doing. The truth is that the Americans have failed in all their strategies throughout the years. They have not managed to accomplish their goals – for example, in the eight-year war that was imposed on us, and later, in the war between Iraq and Kuwait. They also failed in the Afghanistan war, as well as in Iraq, following the fall [of the regime]. In any case, the results were the opposite of what they were trying to accomplish. [...]

"The American weapon factories have their own private policies, and those policies ignited the wars in the region. They have deceived several countries in the region. They are always trying to sow the seeds of strife in this region, and to arouse the concerns of its countries. Unfortunately, the Americans continue to adopt such policies. The Americans have always made problems for ships of countries in this region, and would then accuse Iran. In the wake of all the strife and concerns they instigated, they have been selling their weapons to the region's countries." [...]

To read in full, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/108/0/4711.htm.

Special Dispatch No. 3328—Reform and Democratization in the Arab & Muslim World

Iranian Diplomat Hossein Alizadeh, Who Defected to Finland: 'The Current Iranian Regime Does Not Represent the Iranian People'

In a recent TV interview, Hossein Alizadeh, an Iranian diplomat who defected to Finland, talked about his decision and said he had remained in his position at the Iranian embassy in Finland in order to leak information until he felt that his life was in danger. In the interview, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on October 2, 2010, he called upon other Iranian diplomats to do the same.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2626.htm.

"Following the Heinous Crimes against the Iranians, I Felt that I Could No Longer Be Part of the Iranian Regime"

Hossein Alizadeh: "When the presidential elections were rigged last year, and following the heinous crimes against the defenseless and innocent Iranians, I felt that I could no longer be part of the Iranian regime, and therefore, I defected from the regime of the Islamic Republic. [...]

"I considered defecting a short while after the elections, but I thought that I had better remain within the regime, because as the No. 2 man in the Iranian embassy in Helsinki, I was privy to important information, which I could leak to the opposition and to the Green Movement. This is the reason I remained within the regime, in my position at the Iranian embassy in Helsinki. With time, I began to feel that I was in great danger, and so I defected.

To read in full, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/108/0/4712.htm.