Israel cannot continue to live, says Ahmadinejad

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN - For a man who meets the press so rarely, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is anything but media shy.

At a press conference for foreign journalists yesterday, only his third since winning Iran's election last June, the Iranian President basked in the attention, grinning at the banks of photographers, swapping banter with reporters and arguing with the local press over who should be allowed to answer questions.

Just days before this weekend's United Nations Security Council deadline expires for Iran to end its uranium enrichment programme or face possible sanctions, the firebrand was in expansive and defiant mood.

He said Iran was not frightened of sanctions, threatened to quit the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and insisted Tehran would not make any concessions on its programme that could eventually result in the production of a nuclear weapon.

The theme of Western double standards played prominently. His comments appeared to be aimed at Muslims, whom he has courted assiduously with strongly worded attacks on Israel and support for the Palestinians.

He said: "We say that this fake regime [Israel] cannot logically continue to live."

He also addressed himself directly to the people of Germany and Austria, saying that they were the victims of a historical injustice. "German people today are still making amends for a war they had no part of. Three generations later, what have the German people done to deserve this?"

German politicians have demanded that Iran be barred from playing in the football World Cup in Germany in June and July as a punishment for Ahmadinejad's previous comments about the Holocaust. Iran's first game will be played in Nuremberg.

The Israeli Defence Minister, Shaul Mofaz, said yesterday: "Of all the threats we face, Iran is the biggest. The world must not wait. It must do everything necessary on a diplomatic level in order to stop its nuclear activity ... Since Hitler we have not faced such a threat."

- INDEPENDENT