Holocaust is a lie: Nejad

TEHRAN/GAZA CITY (Reuters/AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has raised the stakes against Israel by describing the Holocaust as a lie, just as world powers are trying to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil.
Rallies were held across the world, including Syria, Afghanistan, India, Iraq to mark Al-Quds Day.
The pretext (Holocaust) for the creation of the Zionist regime (Israel) is false ... It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim, he told the faithful at Tehran University at the end of an annual anti-Israel Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally.
Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty.
The President warned leaders of Western-allied Arab and Muslim countries about dealing with Israel.
This regime (Israel) will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it ... This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end, he said in a speech broadcast live on state radio.
In an interview to NBC television, Ahmadinejad said Tehran had no need of nuclear arms but did not explicitly rule out the possibility Iran would acquire them. We have always believed in talking, in negotiation. That is our logic, nothing has changed, Ahmadinejad said in excerpts of an interview aired Thursday night on NBC television.
But, according to other remarks quoted on NBCs website, Ahmadinejad said: If you are talking about the enrichment of uranium for peaceful purposes, this will never be closed down here in Iran.
He told the US television he regretted the deaths of protestors during demonstrations that erupted after Irans disputed June elections.
At home, Ahmadinejad is facing strong opposition which erupted into unrest following his disputed re-election in June.
On Friday, angry mob attacked Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi and security forces clashed with his supporters during an annual anti-Israeli rally in Tehran on Friday.
The state news agency IRNA said Mousavi and reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi, both defeated candidates in the disputed poll in June, were forced to leave the rally after being attacked by angry people.
Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami took part in the rally, but was also attacked by the supporters of Ahmadinejad and had to leave after his robe was ripped and his turban fell to the ground, an ally of Khatami who accompanied him told Reuters. Thousands of supporters of Mousavi were among the crowds marching in Quds Day rallies held nationwide every year on the last Friday of Ramazan.
Witnesses said clashes erupted between police and Mousavis supporters during protests in central and northern Tehran and that police fired teargas to disperse protesters. They said they saw some people being detained and beaten.
Security forces just arrested over 10 people, the witness said. They are pushing protesters and beating them.
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians joined protests across the Gaza Strip organised by the territorys Hamas rulers to mark the Quds (Jerusalem) Day.
Demonstrations were held after the weekly Juma prayers in several cities of the besieged territory where Iranian-backed Hamas seized power in June 2007.
Jerusalem is ours and the Zionists are destined to disappear, Ahmad Bahar, a deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament told the crowd in Gaza City.
Quds Day, held each year on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramazan, is the brainchild of Irans founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a display of solidarity with the Palestinians.
It is marked by mass demonstrations across Iran to denounce the Jewish state and its main ally, Washington.