Iran - Al Quds Day clashes

Holocaust a myth, says Ahmedinejad, as supporters clash with opposition

Article published on the 2009-09-18 Latest update 2009-09-18 16:07 TU

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
(Photo: Reuters)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared the Nazi Holocaust a myth and said that the state of Israel was founded on a lie on the annual Al Quds Day demonstration. Crowds attacked the car of failed presidential candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi, forcing him to leave the demonstration.

Rio police clashed with stone-throwing demonstrators after Mousaqvi was forced to leave the demonstration. Opposition websites report other opposition supporters, including former President Mohammad Khatami, were attacked by men on motorbikes who joined the crowd.

Earlier Ahmadinejad accused western powers of creating "the myth of the Holocaust".

"If as you claim the Holocaust is true, why can a study not be allowed?" he said, "The pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie ... a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a mythical claim, and the occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with the Holocaust," he added to chants of "Death to Israel!".

He told the 100,000-strong crowd demonstrating solidarity with the Palestinian people that Israel is "on its way to collapse", echoing comments which caused an international outcry in 2005 and again in 2009.

Earlier fistfights broke out between Mousavi's and Ahmadinejad's supporters after opposition demonstators shouted slogans in favour of the failed candidate and "Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I will sacrifice myself for Iran".

There is unanimity on the Palestinian and nuclear questions, says Hamid Najafi, the managing editor of Kayhan International newspaper.

Ahmadinejad used the day to tell the US's NBC television that Tehran has no plans to make nuclear weapons.

"That is what Iran has been saying for a long time - that we don't want nuclear weapons," says Najafi. "It is totally prohibited according to the Koranic dictates, so we cannot go for nuclear arms."

For the first time in decades the sermon at Quds Day prayers was not  given by former President Akbar Hashemi Rasanjani, who supported Mousavi.

Despite criticism of the move on opposition websites, Rafsanjani played it down.

"I don't think it is necessary that I always deliver the sermon on this day after 30 years," he told state television's Al-Alam Arabic-language channel.

"It does not make much difference as long as the speaker defends the rights of Palestinians and condemns the atrocities of Israel."