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It's widely quoted that Iranian President Ahmadinejad said in a speech that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth/map, or something along these lines.

On the BBC News website today, one comment left there struck me as worthy of investigating to see whether true or not:
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread. ... 0206052132

Clearly diplomacy IS the answer here, but the problem is not with Iran- it is with the West's refusal to believe that Iran's motives are peaceful. The rhetoric generated by the Western governments and perpetuated by the Western mainstream media does not help matters. For example - reports of Ahmadinejad wanting to wipe Israel off the map- completely misrepresented- what he actually said, when translated properly, is that he believes the REGIME in Israel will fade away (as did the Soviet Union).

Brendan Whelly, Vancouver

Does anyone speak Farsi here? Can they confirm/deny the above statement.

I find it hard to believe that all news agencies/reports could have mis-reported what the President said, or that I haven't heard this claim before. Therefore I still believe he said what was reported until I get more info to the contrary.

Cheers,
Shafique

I was also curious about exactly what he said because the media were avoiding direct quotes.

However, President Ahmadinejad did not claim that he was mis-reported and therefore everyone assumed that his speech had been interrpreted correctly.

The damage has been done now and there is no point arguing about what he did or did not say.
The best thing for him to do is to let it blow over (but somehow I doubt if he wants this) and try to establish some credability.

Benwj - I agree with your assessment, but like you I was curious as well.

On the one hand, I don't think he had any chance of being buddies with Tel Aviv; but I suppose there is a point about gaining more credibility and standing amongst others around the world.

Anyway - it appears the answer is on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ah ... and_Israel

2005 "World Without Zionism" speech

President Ahmadinejad speaking at "The World without Zionism" conference

In his translation of a speech to the "World Without Zionism" conference held for students in October 2005, Nazila Fathi of The New York Times' Tehran bureau reported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying, in part:

Our dear Imam (referring to Ayatollah Khomeini) said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement. We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine. Is it possible to create a new front in the heart of an old front. This would be a defeat and whoever accepts the legitimacy of this regime has in fact, signed the defeat of the Islamic world. Our dear Imam targeted the heart of the world oppressor in his struggle, meaning the occupying regime. I have no doubt that the new wave that has started in Palestine, and we witness it in the Islamic world too, will eliminate this disgraceful stain from the Islamic world. But we must be aware of tricks.[1]


Ahmadinejad also claimed in the speech that the issue with Palestine would be over "the day that all refugees return to their homes [and] a democratic government elected by the people comes to power" [2], and denounced attempts to normalise relations with Israel, condemning all Muslim leaders who accept the existence of Israel as "acknowledging a surrender and defeat of the Islamic world."

The speech also indicated that the Iranian President considered Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip to be a trick, designed to gain acknowledgement from Islamic states. In a rally held two days later, Ahmadinejad declared that his words reflected the views of the Iranian people, adding that Westerners are free to comment, but their reactions are invalid. [3]

Translation of phrase "wiped off the map"

Many news sources have presented one of Ahmadinejad's phrases in Persian as a statement that "Israel must be wiped off the map"[4][5][6], an English idiom which means to cause a place to stop existing[7].

Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, translates the Persian phrase as:

The Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad).[8]

According to Cole, "Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map because no such idiom exists in Persian" and "He did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse."[1]

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translates the phrase similarly:

[T]his regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.[9]

On 20 February 2006, Iran’s foreign minister denied that Tehran wanted to see Israel “wiped off the map,” saying Ahmadinejad had been misunderstood. "Nobody can remove a country from the map. This is a misunderstanding in Europe of what our president mentioned," Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference, speaking in English, after addressing the European Parliament. "How is it possible to remove a country from the map? He is talking about the regime. We do not recognise legally this regime," he said.

Thats about how I remember it.

It reminded me of a phrase which went something like:

"Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

Usually when someone wish for somthing to happened,he can sit and pray it will happened,or he could use active and practical ways to achive his wish.In the case of president Aahamadinijad i have a filling he is doint both things