The appearance of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani before the United Nations created an outpouring of rare positive coverage for the country when he gave an interview with CNN where he was quoted as condemning the Holocaust. The world celebrated the possibility that the extremism of the Iranian government might be subsiding. It seemed like a fresh start after the vehemently anti-Semitic Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, the Iranian government has now moved to deny the comments — God forbid that its president would acknowledge (let alone condemn) the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis.
What is interesting is that CNN says that it used an interpreter supplied by the Iranian government. That interpreter said that the Holocaust as a “crime that the Nazis committed towards the Jews” and called it “reprehensible and condemnable.” What is equally notable is that Rouhani largely repeated his comments in a meeting with news media executives on Wednesday.
None of that matters. Many Iranians were irate over the statement of sympathy. The semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars promptly called CNN a liar and denied the key portions of the quoted interview.
Yet the comments were made after Rouhani was specifically asked by Amanpour if he shared his predecessor’s belief that the Holocaust was a myth. He started in an evasive manner that it was up to historians to judge the “dimensions of the Holocaust.” However, he added “In general, I can tell you that any crime or — that happens in history against humanity, including the crime that the Nazis committed towards the Jews, as well as non-Jewish people — is reprehensible and condemnable, as far as we are concerned.” The Iranians insist that he did not use the words “holocaust” or “reprehensible.” It said that he used the word for “historical events” just as Ahmadinejad used to do.
CNN has responded by airing the actual interview with the words of the interpreter to show that it fabricated nothing.
What remains is a public display of the commitment of the Iranian government to an ahistorical, anti-Semitic account. The move to deny the comments are particularly telling in how well-received they were internationally and how unpopular they were internally. The divide between Iran and the rest of the world is clearly not just historical.
Bomb, bomb, bomb,…
Bomb, bomb Iran!
give pizza chants
it’s called diplomacy, or the art of speaking out of both sides of your mouth. it depends on whether you agree or disagree with what’s being said.
Po, I have not even discussed the insane Holocaust denial. I’m just talking about nuclear weapon negotiations. Are you aware Rouhani has stated they have every intent to continue their nuclear program, insisting it’s merely for energy? That’s just what the previous theocrat before him said. This guy is just more charming and smarter PR wise. Look, Iran has more political prisoners than any other country. They kill gay people. They have Rouhani now making tweets when their is no internet in their country. I think Iran thinks they can roll Obama because he so much wants a diplomatic victory, and I fear they are correct. All Iran needs is time, maybe a year, and they have a nuclear weapon. Iran is working on 3 stage ballistic missiles as well as miniaturizing nuclear weapons. My stance is simple. Iran stops their centrifuges and we will talk.
I understand your point, Nick. The reason I keep hitting the holocaust point is that it is one of the tools of propaganda we use in this country to demonize Iran and their leader.
Yes, I am aware that Iran plans to continue to enrich uranium, and yes, they keep saying, as they have been for ages that it is merely for peaceful purposes.
I have a hard time when anyone/country is demonized the way we do. Most of the things you hear about Iran are simply false, propaganda tools that are spewed out there by sources intent and adamant in attacking them
In one paragraph, you have called the Iranian president a theocrat, when he was just elected democratically (and one can say in a much more legit way than our Bush vs Gore). They don’t kill gay people! Iran actually recognizes gender reassignement as legitimate and will provide new id cards to those who switch gender.
Additionally, there is internet in Iran. There is a huge number of people online in Iran, one of the biggest online population in the Middle East actually. And yes, there is internet censorship in Iran, as there is internet censorship in China, as there is government spying in the US…
There is nothing that Iran has/is doing that another country hasn’t/isn’t doing without being demonized to that extent, yet we are continuously and stubbornly threatening to attack Iran militarily, and also covertly by killing their scientists and hacking their infrastructures.
What I do want is for someone to give me a good, legitimate reason to deny Iran’s uranium enriching, whether it results in a nuclear bomb or not, that doesn’t revolve around Israel, and that takes in consideration the fact that US, Russia, France, Israel, India, Pakistan have nukes.
“Many Iranians were irate over the statement of sympathy. The semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars promptly called CNN a liar and denied the key portions of the quoted interview.”
Iranian news agency Fars…….. Is Fars the Persian word for Fox?
How dense, deluded, ignorant, and blindly led must a population be to deny the Holocaust. What purpose does it serve?
This false propaganda that is promoted and disseminated by the Government and Religious leaders of Iran must serve some twisted purpose. I for one don’t have a clue.
Sure,Nick, we always have a choice. However, if we genuinely aim to give peace a chance, we will be willing to give Rouhani, and Iran an opening that will be commensurately greater than any offense we may derive from whether or not Rouhani, or Iran, offends our sensibilities by denying or confirming the holocaust.
And as for davidblue, please don’t fall for the fallacy that I just addressed. Ahmad did not deny the holocaust. The Iranian people does not deny the Holocaust. Most people in the Arabic world do not deny the Holocaust. I bet more people in the US deny the holocaust than Arabs do. The new fascists, the new nazis deny the holocaust; the conspiracy theorists deny the holocaust, most Iranians love the US and if given half a chance will move here.
Before you paint Iran with the “bad guy” brush, think about the fact that you are reacting negatively to Iran because of the propaganda of your own government! Reread your sentence thusly: This false propaganda that is promoted and disseminated by the US government and people on the right must serve some twisted purpose…
Po, We do indeed have a choice. We can look @ motivation via a simple litmus test, and if the pass we proceed. If they fail, we tighten the screws. This is hardball, not tiddly winks.
It is fascinating to me that we base our diplomatic efforts, or lack thereof with a country based on false comments attributed to a former president. Perhaps it is a matter of semantics and interpretation but no one can provide me with a definite quote in which Ahma denied the holocaust.
Secondly, we speak of Iran as if we have the right to deny them “the right” to enhance their nuclear capacities, when we, long with other superpowers have nukes, and when we are blind to Israel’s nukes and chemical weapons (which it used in Gaza), are silent on India’s, and mute on Pakistan’s, are only paying lip service to stopping North Korea’s efforts to gain one.
Gene’s parable of 2 kids with a brick vs one without is on point here. Ours is the same country that legitimates preemptive strikes, that supports our ally Israel’s right to preemptively strike anyone it deems a threat, that relentlessly is threatening Iran and actively and continuously working on a plan to attack it; and that, finally, has a definite, and now acknowledged history of undermining Iran’s attempts at self rule, including coups and sabotage…
We have no choice but to give Rouhani the benefit of the doubt. Though Iran is not officially a superpower, it is practically, in influence and interconnection surely one.
I just hope this doesn’t cost him his job. And international diplomacy is not something for those who yearn for instant gratification.
nick,
True, true, but I think the son is marginally less insane than the father was. I think he fully understands that if he were to take aggressive action against any of the Western aligned countries in the region that it wouldn’t be the USAF he had to worry about but the army of the PRC. We’d have some lead time to deal with (except if he went totally nuts and say nuked Seoul or Tokyo), whereas China would just stomp them flat without hesitation for inviting our greater presence in the theater. Their oligarchy doesn’t have to deal with the pretense of actual democracy and that grants them basically unlimited autonomy of action.
Regarding North Korea. I agree w/ you vis a’ vis China. However, no one can have total control over a megalomaniac.
Yes, it is worth exploring, w/o question. We agree on the litmus test and that is the key to knowing true motivation. If they can’t pass the test, we will know their intent.
The first thing I do when interviewing someone is assess their motivation. That is key. In those instances, assessing w/o the person knowing, is the trick. In this circumstance, we don’t need to be clandestine. We can be very upfront. We need this before proceeding.
Tactically, I agree. IF they want to prove they are serious about lifting sanctions, the first thing they have to do is stop enrichment and allow UN inspection and verification. That’s the litmus test.
Could be, nick. But isn’t any chance to avoid nuclear conflict worth exploring? BTW, if sanctions are increased, it would have to go through the UN, meaning Russia and China would need to be on board at a minimum. Also, NK is a different deal. If you don’t think China isn’t using them as a straw man that they can demolish at any time they become too much trouble, you underestimate China greatly. NK dances to their DJ no matter what they say publicly. They are the threat of violence used to stymie Western influence in the region, another cold war between the Chinese and everyone using NK as proxy. Iran on the other hand is a free agent with theocrats largely in charge who have no qualms about using violence to spread their religion. They are potential actual violence and ruled by a group of people who are inherently irrational zealots. They are as dangerous to that region as Saudi Arabia is and without some of the constraints the Saudis carry from enlisting/co-opting the US government to do their dirty work. As much as I loathe SA, even I’ll admit an nuclear Iran is not desirable and would end in disaster so long as the Mullahs hold sway.
Therefore, make this guy put up first. Stop enrichment, then we’ll negotiate. That will tell us just how committed he is. Time for diplomacy, OK. You stop enrichment, then we negotiate. No diplomacy is better than bad faith diplomacy w/ a sinister motive. I don’t abide being snookered. And, I have not been snookered often.
Gene, The “negotiations” themselves, w/o caring the outcome, may be the only goal. Time is money, as it were. Maybe the sanctions won’t be lifted, but there’s a good chance they won’t be tightened more because that wouldn’t be diplomatic. The Iranians are negotiating in good faith and the ugly Americans are trying to increase sanctions. That playbook worked for the North Koreans. This all smells like horseshit to me.
nick,
The art of diplomacy is the art of exploring options. As for “feeling the need” for a nuclear weapon, have you seen the way our so-called government uses the military for economic conquest instead of proper defense? I perfectly understand “feeling the need” for a nuclear weapon in this day and age although I don’t condone it. Three kids are fighting. Two of them pick up bricks. I understand why when the third kid does too. Diplomacy is trying to take the bricks out of the equation. Does Rouhani want the sanctions lifted? Sure. But there is no indication yet that he’s not amenable to making putting down the brick being part of that solution. That is something that cannot be said about his clearly insane predecessor Machmoud I’madinnerjacket. Nuclear weapons are a bad idea, no matter who holds them. In a country where rule is dominated by theocratic zealots who think God is on their side, it merits exploring talking to their less crazy friend about talking them back from the precipice of what is almost certain to be a disastrous escalation as no one in the region wants a nuclear Iran but the Iranian Imams. Even if Rouhani isnt actually approachable on this matter, when the stakes are nuclear war or not nuclear war, I think it merits exploring every option to avoid it first and foremost.
It’s not just internally those comments were dangerous. They are unacceptable in the entire Arab and North Africa world. Terms like “moderate” are very relative. My take on this guy is he is doing a charm offensive to get the sanctions lifted. There is no change. They want, and feel they need a nuclear weapon. And, I think they believe they have a prez who wants a diplomatic “victory,” hollow as it may be. I hope they aren’t correct, but fear they are.
I would not put much stock in what Fars has said. In reviewing the daily headlines of the official Islamic Republic News Agency, its’ headlines include the meeting w/John Kerry …there is nothing about this. To me, this is like the House Republican Conference trying to speak for the White House. let’s celebrate achievement: http://en.irna.ir/PhotoDetail.aspx?NID=080834415
I would remind all of the foreign minister’s greeting on Rosh Hasana….and of course another gesture by him to have Iran’s Member of Parliament for the Jewish Community join him: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-327419-hassan-rohani-comes-to-town-washington-and-tehran-meet-at-un-by-robert-olson-.html
So much for a move to a more moderate stance.
Outta the mouth of a turbinhead.
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