NYC Letter: "Crise Internationale" ! Clarification, SVP !

WIPE ISRAEL OFF MAP, SAYS IRAN'S PRESIDENT

JERUSALEM October 27, 2005 (Telegraph) - Iran's new hard-line president called yesterday for Israel to be "wiped off the map"... "The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world," he said. "As the Imam [the late Ayatollah Khomeini] said, 'Israel must be wiped off the map'… The Islamic world will not let its historic enemy live in its heartland."

TEHRAN DEFIANT OVER ISRAEL SLUR* [SIC]

October 28, 2005 (Guardian) - The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, refused today to retract his call for Israel to be wiped off the map, while the Iranian embassy in Moscow attempted to calm the growing diplomatic crisis.

Mr Ahmadinejad appeared at an anti-Israeli rally attended by thousands of Iranians in Tehran and rejected the international condemnation of his comments as "invalid". "My words were the Iranian nation's words. Westerners are free to comment, but their reactions are invalid," he said.

Protestors in Tehran and other Iranian cities burned Israeli flags today and held banners displaying anti-Israeli slogans including "Death to Israel, Death to America".

Here both Iran and the world community find the fabled common ground, recognizing incitement of death chants and threats by the rabble as acceptable hate speech -- a healthy instance of free speech, the bedrock of democracies everywhere.

[Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon pointedly remarked,] "A country that calls for the destruction of another people cannot be a member of the UN."

A statement released by the Iranian embassy in Moscow said Mr Ahmadinejad "did not have any intention to speak up in such sharp terms and enter into a conflict".

Of course it is curious how Mr. Ahmadinejad could have spoken so plainly in such sharp terms with no intention of doing so. More curious still for him a day later to affirm the very intention the embassy assures us he lacked. Curious.

IRAN'S ENVOY TO PARIS SUMMONED OVER COMMENTS

PARIS October 27, 2005 (AFP) - "The Iranian ambassador to Paris, Sadegh Kharrazi, was summoned this morning to the foreign ministry," spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei told reporters.

"He was asked to clarify the contents of remarks made the previous day by his president... calling for Israel to be 'wiped off the map'," he said, adding that France had repeated its condemnation of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks.

Those exacting French! They insist on the deconstructed content of Mr. Ahmadinejad's plain-spoken demand. France'll discover what all his wipe-talk is about if anyone can. You just cannot fool the Frenchies. Earlier this year Mr. Kharrazi maintained that Iran and France "share a similar viewpoint in regard to resolving the problems in the Middle East". Has Mr. Kharrazi let slip a secret?

IRAN SAYS NO THREAT TO ISRAEL

October 29, 2005 (Telegraph) - Iran has clarified remarks from its president that Israel should be "wiped off the map", saying that it would not use violence against another country.

The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said yesterday that he stood by his calls for Israel to be erased, but the country has confirmed its UN commitment not to use force against other countries.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to its U.N. charter commitments. It has never used force against a second country or threatened the use of force," a statement from Iran's foreign ministry said.

The ministry did not specifically turn away from President Ahmadinejad's remarks, but said that Iran, which has ballistic missiles capable of hitting Israel, had no intention of launching attack on Israel.

Ho! Thanks for the clarification, Tehran! France's tough patty-cake with Mr. Kharrazi has brightened the Iranian verbal mud and brought the Iranians to heel. Our thanks to France for securing Iran's empty promises and outright lies. Let's hope those excitable Israelis will calm down.

Let's see, now, Osama bin Laden openly declares he will destroy America and then commissions attacks using hijacked jetliners as missiles. Various Islamic terrorist organizations declare they will destroy the enemies of Islam, such being anyone who is not an Islamite to their liking, and they go about blowing up, beheading, and murdering anyone not an Islamite to their liking. Mr. Ahmadinejad openly demands that Israel be wiped off the face of the earth. OK, what do you think he means?

Our guess is that Iran has something more in mind than arming Hezzbollah with Kleenex with instructions to march on Tel Aviv. What could it be?

* We realize how difficult it is for newsrooms to acquire a proper desk reference or get access to those new-fangled Internet dictionaries, so we thought the Guardian might appreciate a little help with their vocabulary-building. No, please, it's a pleasure.