Iran has not incited acts of genocide against Jews

The first secretary of the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations has strongly dismissed claims that Iran has been inciting acts of genocide against the Jews. Ali Reza Miryousefi made the remarks in an article published on the May 16 edition of the Wall Street Journal in response to the article written by Robert Bernstein, Irwin Cotler, and Stuart Robinowitz entitled “Inciting Genocide Is a Crime,” which was published on the May 2 edition of the paper. Miryousefi wrote, “The false allegation that Iranian officials have incited acts of genocide against the Jews is utterly absurd. Suffice it to say that the constitutional rights of Iran’s Jewish minority (are) fully protected.” He noted that the Jewish community is represented in the Iranian parliament. “Iranian law strictly forbids any discrimination and hate crimes against any Iranian, including Jews,” he added. He stated, “Iran has been threatened by Israel’s politicians on a daily basis in direct violation of the UN Charter, and yet there is no mention of this by the authors. Iran has consistently defended the rights of the genocidally oppressed Palestinian people and opposed the Zionist regime’s illegal expansion of settlements in violation of international law. Compared to Israel, which has stockpiled hundreds of nuclear weapons and has refused to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is a member of the NPT and has a completely peaceful nuclear program that is fully monitored by the IAEA. The IAEA has repeatedly confirmed the absence of any evidence of military diversion of declared nuclear material.” The Iranian envoy also wrote, “It is unfortunate that the Israeli regime and its supporters in the U.S. have engaged in such a propaganda campaign.”