EJP | News | Merkel compares Iran's stance to rise of Hitler

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Merkel compares Iran's stance to rise of Hitler

Updated: 06/Feb/2006 18:06

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On Saturday German Chancellor Angela Merkel elicited a strong response to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israel tirades, comparing him to Adolf Hitler.

"Iran has blatantly crossed the red line,” Merkel said. “I say it as German chancellor, a president who denies the existence of Israel and the Holocaust cannot expect to receive any tolerance from Germany," Merkel added in a speech to an international security conference in Munich.

The Iranian leader has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and has branded the Holocaust a "myth." Ahmadinejad also said Israel should be moved to Europe.

Merkel: Many believed Hitler was just rhetoric

Merkel compared Ahmadinejad’s statements and stance to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power when he and his Nazi party began threatening to exterminate European Jewry. "Remember that in 1933 many people said it was just rhetoric," Merkel said.

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The international community "must fight these beginnings now," Merkel continued.

Merkel’s declarations came amid growing fears in the international community that Iran intends to developing nuclear weapons.

A meeting in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, voted overwhelmingly to report Iran to the UN Security Council. The IAEA expressed doubts about Iran’s statements that it is developing a peaceful atomic energy program.

Iran blames EU-3

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Abbas Araghchi responded to Merkel’s speech. Araghchi said that referral to the Security Council would not lead the Islamic republic to halt its nuclear activities.

Araghchi continued by blaming what became known as the EU-3, Britain, France and Germany for the crisis. The EU-3 has negotiated with Tehran to reach a negotiated solution to the diplomatic flare-up over its nuclear program.

"We did whatever we could. But as you know after three years of negotiations we left empty-handed," Araghchi said.

Merkel brushed off his statement, saying that Iran "should consider amending its laws." Merkel added that she would have liked to hear him comment on his president’s denial of Israel’s existence, "that was missing," she said.