Iranian president: Holocaust is a 'myth'
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-14 20:25

The president's views sharply conflict with those of his predecessor Mohammad Khatami, a moderate who used to call for dialogue among civilizations and promoted a low-key understanding with the United States that stopped short of diplomatic relations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to lawmakers as he arrives at parliament to attend an open session to debate his Oil Minister nominee, in Tehran, Iran, in this file photo from December 11, 2005. Ahmadinejad said Wednesday, December 14 the Holocaust is a 'myth' that Europeans have used to create a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world. [AP]

But Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the ultimate say, has backed Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel's elimination.

Ahmadinejad criticized the United States for refusing to sell Iran spare parts for its civilian planes as part of its long standing embargo against the country.

Iran has suffered a series of plane accidents — most recently on Dec. 6 when an aging U.S.-made military transport plane crashed into a tall building in Tehran, killing 115 people. Iranian officials have blamed Washington for the crashes, saying they are partly caused by the difficulty in obtaining spare parts.

"No country is authorized to impose spare-part sanctions against another country. Nothing can justify this," Ahmadinejad said Wednesday.

Ahmadinejad said the denial of spare parts was a reason why Iran would not trust Western promises to give it nuclear fuel. The country is currently at loggerheads with the West over its insistence on enriching uranium to fuel its first nuclear reactor, which is due to start generating electricity next year.

The Europeans, with U.S. backing, do not trust Iran to have its own enrichment process, as highly enriched uranium can be used for nuclear warheads. Europe has offered to sell enriched uranium for the reactor, but Iran has rejected this.

Ahmadinejad said that if Iran gave in on the nuclear dispute, there was no guarantee the West might not refuse to sell nuclear fuel in the future.

"I assure you that we won't step back one inch from our nuclear rights," the president told the crowd, drawing chants of "Death to America!"

Later this month, Iran is due to resume negotiations on the nuclear issue with envoys from Britain, France and Germany.

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