Zarif dismisses news reports on remarks on Israel

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif categorically denied the remarks attributed to him about Israel, stressing that the Islamic Republic's view about the Zionist regime has not changed. Some Israeli media, including Ynetnews and German TV station Phoenix, have misquoted the Iranian foreign minister as saying that “Holocaust should not happen again” and that “the extermination of Jews by the Nazi regime was tragically cruel and should not happen again.” Speaking to FNA, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi rejected the media reports about Zarif’s statements as untrue, and said, “In a phone conversation that I had with Mr. Zarif he completely rejected the remarks attributed to him and declared that the Islamic Republic’s stance about the (Zionist) regime is what has been repeatedly announced by the country’s diplomacy apparatus and this stance has not changed.” Last month, a senior Iranian parliamentarian underlined that Tehran is resolved to continue backing anti-Zionist movements in the region, particularly the Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah which is the flag-bearer of the move. Member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Hassan Asafari pointed to a recent meeting between Zarif and Hezbollah Secretary General Seyed Hassan Nasrallah and said, “During this meeting, the (Iranian) foreign minister reiterated that support will continue for the resistance movement Hezbollah, which seeks to establish peace in Lebanon and fight hegemony.” Zarif himself has shown his strong support for the anti-Israel resistance movement in practice. Last month and during a regional tour that took him to Lebanon as well, Zarif went to the tomb of Hezbollah's assassinated commander Emad Moghniyeh and paid tribute to him. His visit was harshly criticized by Israel and the US. Early in February 2012, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei categorically denied Iran's interference in Bahrain, but meantime stressed Iran's direct involvement in the Palestinian and Lebanese confrontation against Israel, including the Lebanese Summer 2006 33-day resistance against the Zionist regime. "Wherever Iran interferes, it announces it in a very straightforward manner. For instance, we interfered in confrontations against Israel, which resulted in the (Lebanese) victory in the 33-day war and (Palestinians' victory in) the 22-day (Gaza) war," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing millions of Friday Prayers worshippers on Tehran University Campus today. "In future too, we will support and help everyone who opposes the Zionist regime," the Leader underscored. "The Zionist regime is a real cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut, God Willing," Ayatollah Khamenei underscored.