Ahmadinejad says Israel should be moved to Europe

Iranian President MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD said that if Germany and Austria feel responsible for the Jewish Holocaust, they should give up their land for Israel, BBC reported.

"You oppressed them, so give a part of Europe to the Zionist regime so they can establish any government they want," he said at a press conference in Saudi Arabia.

Ahmadinejad also accused European governments of supporting Israel because of the Holocaust.

"Is it not true that European countries insist that they committed a Jewish genocide? They say that Hitler burned millions of Jews in furnaces... and exiled them,"

"Then because the Jews have been oppressed during World War II, therefore they [the Europeans] have to support the occupying regime of Jerusalem. We do not accept this,"

The Iranian leader also suggested that the Palestinians should hold a referendum to decide on the future of what is now Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

But he said that "the best solution is resistance so that the enemies of the Palestinians accept the reality and the right of the Palestinian people to have land."

"The question is, where do those who rule in Palestine as occupiers come from? Where were they born? Where did their fathers live? They have no roots in Palestine but they have taken the fate of Palestine in their hands,"

"Isn't the right to national self-determination one of the principles of the United Nations charter? Why do they deprive Palestinians of this right?,” Ahmadinejad asked.

Condemnation

In October, Ahmadinejad caused an international outcry by calling for Israel to "be wiped off the map".

His latest comments were denounced by Israel and the U.S.

"This is not the first time, unfortunately, that the Iranian president has expressed the most outrageous ideas concerning Jews and Israel," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev, according to BBC.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that Ahmadinejad’s remarks "further underscore our concerns about the regime".

French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also denounced Ahmadinejad's stance.

"The comments by the Iranian president are totally unacceptable," said Ms Merkel.

Ahmadinejad’s remarks came as Iran is in the middle of a crisis over its NUCLEAR PROGRAM.

The United States, Israel and Europe suspect that Iran is covertly working on an atomic weapons program, and wants to refer its nuclear case to the UN Security Council, which can impose sanctions.

The Islamic republic insists that it has a right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has deferred the possible referral of Tehran to the UN Security Council.