Israel condemns Iran's anti-Semitism

JERUSALEM, June 27 (UPI) -- Israel's foreign minister condemned an anti-Semitic speech by Iran's vice president at an international drug conference attended by western diplomats in Tehran.

"The international community has not yet realized the great danger the [Iranian] regime poses to world peace. Hitler also said crazy things and succeeded in carrying out his plan," the Hebrew language daily Maariv quoted Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as saying Wednesday.

The New York Times described the speech delivered by Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi at the U.N. international drug trade conference in Tehran Tuesday as "baldly anti-Semitic," shocking some of the European diplomats attending the conference. None of the diplomats, however, walked out of the meeting.

The Talmud teaches to "destroy everyone who opposes the Jews," the New York Times quoted Rahimi saying. "They think God has created the world so that all other nations can serve them." He went on to claim "Zionists" are in firm control of the illegal drug trade.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will pay for anybody who can research and find one single Zionist who is an addict. They do not exist. This is the proof of their involvement in [the drug] trade," the paper quoted Rahimi as saying.

The Anti-Defamation League Wednesday called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to condemn the speech, The Jerusalem Post said.

"Before now, good people in the world either ignored Iran's anti-Semitism or did not take it seriously. One would hope that this resurgence of dangerous anti-Semitic themes at a U.N. conference in Tehran would shake up the moral, political, religious leadership to condemn it with a strong voice," the Post quoted ADL national director Abe Foxman as saying.