Radio Zamaneh
  • Home
  • Labor Rights
  • Advertise
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
    • Legal
    • Republishing Guidelines
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Labor Rights
  • Advertise
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
    • Legal
    • Republishing Guidelines
No Result
View All Result
Radio Zamaneh
No Result
View All Result

Iranian Foreign Minister gives wide-ranging U.S. interview

by Zamaneh Media
September 30, 2013
in Latest Articles
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Iranian Foreign Minister gives wide-ranging U.S. interview
Mohammad Javad Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a U.S. television audience that the Holocaust was “a heinous crime” and a “genocide”, while blaming poor translation for the fact that the word “myth” appears on the Iranian Supreme Leader’s English-language website in reference to the Holocaust.

“The Holocaust is not a myth. Nobody's talking about a myth,” Zarif told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s "This Week" on Sunday, when asked about the quote on the Supreme Leader’s site. “If it’s there … it’s a bad translation and it’s translated out of context… This is the problem when you translate something from Persian to English, you may lose something, as the film goes, ‘Lost in Translation,’ you may lose some of the meaning.”

The Iranian foreign minister went on to explain: “We condemn the killing of innocent people, whether it happened in Nazi Germany or whether it's happening in Palestine… the Holocaust was a heinous crime, it was a genocide, it must never be allowed to be repeated, but that crime cannot be and should not be a justification to trample the rights of the Palestinian people for 60 years.”

Zarif commented on Iranian-U.S. relations, saying: “This mutual distrust has built up over 34 years. We need to move in that direction of removing some of that mistrust, with each side taking real, mutual steps to convince each other that its intentions are positive and aiming for a better future for all of us.”

Stressing that the first step toward easing tensions is the resolution of the nuclear issue, Zarif said: “We know that Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon. Having an Iran that does not have nuclear weapons is not just your goal. It's first and foremost our goal.”

He emphasized, however, that Iran’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable but he added that Iran will not seek weapons-grade uranium.

Mr. Zarif also called for the dismantling of the “illegal sanctions” imposed on Iran by the United States.
“There has been a lot of arm-twisting… by certain elements within the U.S. government, which have tried to put pressure on ordinary Iranian people. Sanctions are not a useful tool for implementing policy. And the United States needs to change that,” Zarif said.

The Iranian foreign minister also addressed the Israeli prime minister’s dismissal of Iran’s recent diplomatic efforts as “a smile attack”, saying:  “A smile attack is much better than a lie attack. Mr. Netanyahu and his colleagues have been saying since 1991… that Iran is six months away from a nuclear weapon. And we are how many years, 22 years after that? And they are still saying we are six months away from nuclear weapons.”

Mr. Zarif reiterated Iran’s position regarding nuclear armaments, saying: “We are not seeking nuclear weapons, so we're not six months, six years, 60 years away from nuclear weapons.”

Related Posts

Re-reading Bahmanyar, a prominent Tajik writer
Featured Items

Re-reading Bahmanyar, a prominent Tajik writer

July 14, 2025
Condemned for Compassion: The Death Sentence of Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri
Latest Articles

Condemned for Compassion: The Death Sentence of Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri

July 9, 2025
A Collective Statement by Men Advocating for Gender and Sexual Equality: Let Us End This Silence and Complicity
Human Rights

A Collective Statement by Men Advocating for Gender and Sexual Equality: Let Us End This Silence and Complicity

June 14, 2025
The Light Carried Forward: Migration, Exile, Flight and Cinematic Creation
Latest Articles

The Light Carried Forward: Migration, Exile, Flight and Cinematic Creation

May 9, 2025
A Dutch Artist Inspired by Women, Life, and Freedom in Iran: An Interview with Rienke Enghardt
Latest Articles

A Dutch Artist Inspired by Women, Life, and Freedom in Iran: An Interview with Rienke Enghardt

September 23, 2024
Afghan Migrants Speak Out: Legal Residents Expelled from Iran
Human Rights

Afghan Migrants Speak Out: Legal Residents Expelled from Iran

August 16, 2024
Radio Zamaneh

© 2024 Zamaneh Media

More information

  • Sponsors
  • Donate
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Legal

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Labor Rights
  • Advertise
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
    • Legal
    • Republishing Guidelines

© 2024 Zamaneh Media