'Jews Aren’t Our Enemies,' Says Iran Foreign Minister
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has weighed in on Judaism and Zionism, saying Iran makes a clear distinction between the two.
TEHRAN, Iran — “Jews aren’t our enemies,” said Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif when asked by Iran’s Tasnim news agency about his statements on the Holocaust on a social-media website in a conversation that originated with his tweet of "Happy Rosh Hashanah" on Sept. 5.
The foreign minister, whose name means in Persian “elegant” or "delicate," tried to be very delicate in his choice of words. He was clear in condemning the “killing of Jews by Nazis, as we condemn the killing of Palestinians by the Zionists.”
Zarif explained his country’s differentiation between Zionism and Judaism with, “Judaism is a divine religion that we respect in accordance with the teachings of our religion and our country's constitution.” He added, "In the Islamic Republic of Iran Jewish compatriots are a recognized minority and in the parliament they have an active parliamentary member."
“Zionists are a minority with the Jews," he said. "They are exploiting the suffering of the Jews to justify their crimes against the Palestinians. We won’t allow them to propagate that Iran hates the Jews and that it's a country that wants war.” Zarif concluded, “The Zionists for 60 years used the Holocaust as a pretext for all the crimes against the Palestinians, the world should have a say on this so that the Palestinians won’t suffer for another 60 years in the name of the Holocaust.”
