Lost in Translation

The demonization of Iran in the West, especially in the United States, has been evident in the media, notably in the repetition of false versions of  it's  president's rhetoric, ignoring the content of what he says. Officially, Iran's foreign policy is not to attack anyone. Also, it supports  the universal reduction of  nuclear weapons .

Ahmadinejad's rhetoric against the "regime" in Israel has been represented  as a threat to attack Israel, "to wipe it off map." This is not what he said. He has made clear he has no hatred for the Israeli people or Jews.  

His rhetoric  does not resonate well with a majority of Iranians, who have severely criticized him for it.  Iran, before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, had good relations with Israel.  Iranian Jews are not restricted from visiting or emigrating to Israel and those Iranians who have emigrated to Israel can visit Iran.

  This is the full transcript of the speech in farsi:
www.president.ir/farsi/ahmadinejad/speeches/1384/aban-84/840804sahyonizm.htm

In his speech, Ahmadinejad declares that Zionism is the West's partner in political oppression of  Muslims. He says the "Zionist regime" was imposed on the Islamic world as a bridgehead to achieve   domination of the region and its assets. Palestine, he says,  is the frontline of the Islamic world's struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will have repercussions for the entire Middle East.

He  does not say what sort of settlement the Palestinians should make with Israel. That is their choice. Iran has no right to tell them what to do and it will support any settlement  that the Palestinians and Israel agree to.

Ahmadinejad admits  that the removal of America's  and the Zionists'  power in the region may seem inconceivable to many  , but, he  reminds the audience that, as Ayatollah Khomeini predicted in in the early 1980s, other seemingly invincible empires have disappeared and now only exist in history books. He then lists three  regimes that have collapsed or " vanished,"  within the last 30 years, as Ayatollah Khomeini  predicted: The Shah of Iran- the U.S. installed monarch;the Soviet Union;Iran's chief enemy -  Iraq's  Saddam Hussein

In the first and third cases , Ahmadinejad indicates he is quoting  Khomeini's own words ("The Imam said..")  foretelling that individual regime's demise.

 He concludes by referring to Khomeini's unfulfilled wish. The "Imam" is Khomeini ( 1902-1989):

"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time. This statement is very wise".

This is the passage that has been widely mistranslated  and taken  out of context, generally as "Israel should be wiped off the map.". He doesn't say "Israel" . He speaks of the "regime in Jerusalem."   Khomeini called for  "regime change."

Iran offered to recognize Israel in 2003 in an official letter to the United States, as a pre-concession (among other significant concessions)  in return for open negotiations seeking ways to establish normal relations with the United States. The Bush administration did not respond. (As it did not respond to North Korea's repeated offers to continue negotiations that were in process since 2000.)

Iran had given valuable logistical support to the  United States in the  2001 military invasion of Afghanistan, including Iranians working with US generals in Afghanistan. It had not interfered with the invasion of Iraq. Yet  following the 2003  Iranian offer, Bush made his "axis of evil"  speech , calling Iran a terrorist state. This hostility to Iran and its refusal to negotiate without first agreeing to abandon its ongoing nuclear development resulted in the loss  of power in the 2005 elections by the reformers to  the hardliners in Iran.

However, Ahmadinejad's extreme rhetoric has produced a reaction in Iran and more recently brought a rebuke from the more pragmatic leaders, including Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader, who has the leading political authority in Iran, over that of the president,  and determines its foreign policy.