30 August 2007
Iran’s hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again spoken out against Israel and Jews. He accused “Zionists” of sowing conflict, publishing offensive cartoons and "lying about being Jewish." At a news conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, Ahmadinejad said: "Zionists are people without any religion. They are lying about being Jewish because religion means brotherhood, friendship and respecting other divine religions." He also claimed that "Zionists" were behind a cartoon in a Swedish newspaper depicting the head of the Prophet Muhammad on a dog’s body that sparked an official protest by Tehran to Stockholm.
"They do not want the Swedish government to be a friend of other nations. I strongly believe they are behind it [the cartoon]. They thrive on conflict and war. They are an organized minority who have infiltrated the world. They are not even a 10,000-strong organization," he was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. "Anywhere they are found there is war. Anywhere where there is war they are behind it," Ahmadinejad added.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned a Swedish diplomat to protest against the cartoon, which was published in a local newspaper in Sweden. Echoing previous predictions about Israel’s doomed future, the president said: "If the world is calm, people, Europeans, Germans even, will uproot them."
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