Iran's first Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi blamed Judaism for the
spread of illegal drugs around the world, during a speech Tuesday at an
international drug conference in Iran, a New York Times correspondent reported from Tehran.
In the speech described by the Times
as "baldly anti-Semitic," Rahimi said that the Talmud teaches to
"destroy everyone who opposes the Jews," according to the report.
He
went on to assert that there are no drug addicts who are Zionists: “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 drugs trade.” the Times quoted Rahimi as saying.
Moving
to another issue, Rahimi reportedly said that the Talmud teaches Jews
that they are a superior race: “They think God has created the world so
that all other nations can serve them."
Diplomats present at the
conference criticized the speech, but remained for the rest of the event
marking International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to condemn the speech.
ADL National Director Abe Foxman said that, "To all those who thought that anti-Semitism is a thing of the past, certainly this makes it very clear that it is alive and well again. What makes it more sinister and dangerous is the fact that it comes from a leader of a country that has vowed to destroy the Jewish state, and is making efforts to obtain the means to do it."
Foxman added: "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 UN conference in Tehran would shake up the moral, political, religious leadership to condemn it with a strong voice. We begin by calling on Ban Ki-moon to speak out and to make clear that these views are not only objectionable, but repugnant to the entire international community."