Iran Focus: London, Dec. 20 United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned on Monday that recent remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel should be wiped off the map and his denial of the Holocaust were dangerous, and said that Iran was seeking a Middle East that was at odds with U.S. interests. Iran Focus
London, Dec. 20 United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned on Monday that recent remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel should be wiped off the map and his denial of the Holocaust were dangerous, and said that Iran was seeking a Middle East that was at odds with U.S. interests.
In an interview on the American television channel NBC, Rice said that there was no doubt that Ahmadinejad had sharpened the contradictions greatly.
He’s made it very clear that whatever was once a face of Iran that perhaps looked more diplomatic, perhaps is not what the Iranian regime is really all about.
She described his anti-Israel rhetoric as outrageous and dangerous statements.
The Secretary of State highlighted Washingtons concerns over Tehrans suspected nuclear weapons development. I think people are clearly starting to see that it is outrageous for the President of Iran to say these things with one breath, and on the other breath, to say that the world can trust Iran with technologies that would lead to a nuclear weapon.
There is also Iranian support for terrorism in the Palestinian territories with Hezbollah, she said, adding, There is the decision or the ability of an unaccountable few inside Iran to repress and frustrate the desires of its own people.
But the Middle East that Iran wants and apparently is prepared to work for is fundamentally different than the Middle East that is emerging, and certainly one that is at odds with American interests, Rice added.
