AHMADINEJAD-isms

Since his election in 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been known for making outrageous statements in public speeches. His scathing rhetoric largely consists of fictitious accusations, many of them anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-democratic or purely absurd and conspiratorial. Protesting Ahmadinejad at the 2010 UN General Assembly in New York City, UANI displayed a banner of Ahmadinejad quotes, asking "What will he say next?"

The purpose of "Ahmadinejad-isms" is to create an index of some of the dictator's most hateful, belligerent, hypocritical and absurd comments. A world leader who makes such statements would clearly endanger regional and world peace if armed with nuclear weapons.

On 9/11

"Who used the mysterious September 11 incident as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq, killing, injuring, and displacing millions in two countries with the ultimate goal of bringing into its domination the Middle East and its oil resources?" – September 23, 2011 speech to the United Nations General Assembly

"The September 11 (attacks) were actually a planned game to provoke the human community's sentiments and find an excuse for launching attack on Muslim regions and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan, which led to the massacre of one million innocent people." – Address on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the attacks

"Some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated the attack [9/11] to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order also to save the Zionist regime. The majority of the American people as well as other nations and politicians agree with this view." – September 23, 2010 speech to the United Nations General Assembly

No "Zionists" were killed in the World Trade Center, according to Ahmadinejad, because "one day earlier they were told not to go to their workplace." – August 7, 2010 at a conference in Tehran

"September 11 was a big lie." – March 6, 2010, as reported by state media

"An incident known as 9/11 occurred. It is not yet clear who carried it out, who collaborated with them, and who paved the way for them. The event took place, and - like in the case of the Holocaust - they sealed it off, refusing to allow objective research groups to find out the truth." – January 28, 2009 speech on Iranian news channel IRINN

On the U.S. and the West

The West's sanctions are "ridiculous" and only "politically retarded" governments would use oil as a tool of "political warfare." – July 31, 2012 speech on state TV

"The United States doesn’t understand what war looks like. When a war starts, it knows no limits...The United States has never entered a serious war, and has never been victorious." – September 21, 2010 statement to reporters in New York City

"The engine of unbridled capitalism with its unfair system of thought has reached the end of [the] road and is unable to move. The era of capitalist thinking and imposition of one’s thoughts on the international community, intended to dominate the world in the name of globalization and the age of setting up empires is over." – September 2009 speech to the United Nations General Assembly

"Some powerful states practice a discriminatory approach against access of NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] members to material, equipment, and peaceful nuclear technology, and by doing so, intend to impose a nuclear apartheid." - September 2005 speech to the United Nations General Assembly

On the Holocaust

"If some European countries still use the Holocaust, after six decades, as the excuse to pay fine or ransom to the Zionists, should it not be an obligation upon the slave masters or colonial powers to pay reparations to the affected nations?" – September 23, 2011 speech to the United Nations General Assembly

"The Zionist regime's establishment was based on numerous deceptions and lies and one of the biggest lies was the Holocaust." – August 26, 2011 address at Tehran University on Quds Day

"The question is, why don't we allow this subject [the Holocaust] to be examined further... It is incorrect to force only one view on the rest of the world…. How come when it comes to the subject of the Holocaust there is so much sensitivity?" – September 21, 2010 statement to journalists during the UN General Assembly

The Holocaust is "a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim." – September 18, 2009 speech at the annual Quds Day rally in Tehran

"They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets…. If you [Europeans] committed this big crime, then why should the oppressed Palestinian nation pay the price? This is our proposal: give a part of your own land in Europe, the US, Canada or Alaska to them so that the Jews can establish their country." – December 2005 to Iranian television

On Israel

"The very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to humankind and an affront to all world nations." – August 17, 2012 address on Quds Day

"Anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world justice and freedom." – August 2, 2012 speech to ambassadors from Islamic countries

"O dear Imam (Khomeini)! You said the Zionist Regime that is a usurper and illegitimate regime and a cancerous tumor should be wiped off the map. I should say that your illuminating remark and cause is going to come true today...the Zionist regime faces a complete deadend and under God's grace your wish will soon be materialized and the corrupt element will be wiped off the map." – June 2, 2008 speech during a ceremony commemorating the 19th anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini’s death

"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation." – May 2008 statement to IRNA news agency

"If European countries claim that they have killed Jews in World War II... why don't they provide the Zionist regime with a piece of Europe." – December 2005 statement on Iranian television

"Imam [Khomeini] said: 'This regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.' This sentence is very wise. The issue of Palestine is not an issue on which we can compromise... Very soon, this stain of disgrace [Israel] will be purged from the center of the Islamic world – and this is attainable." – October 26, 2005 speech to an Islamic Student Associations conference in Tehran on "The World Without Zionism"

On the June 2009 Elections

"We've had over 30 fully free elections in the past 30 years. So people in our country, you know, interact in a friendly way. And if you wait, there will be future elections as well." – September 25, 2009 interview with Larry King

"Most of the people who actually were harmed as a result of the protests and the chaos that followed the elections in Tehran were pro-government individuals, not people who were opposed to this government. The majority of them were actually out there defending the government." - September 25, 2009 interview with Larry King

"Now, if there is a camera that can actually follow a person [NedaAgha-Soltan] for tens of minutes, how is it logically possible for the same camera to fail to show who the murderer is? This is a question mark in our mind." - September 25, 2009 interview with Larry King

On Human Rights

"They asked me (at Columbia) why you crack down on homosexuals in Iran? I answered we don't have so many homosexuals in Iran because we believe this act is against the human spirit and humanity." – January 20, 2011 speech in Yazd

Regarding the three detained American hikers: "I think that there are many prisoners in the world. Do I have to make a personal request for everyone?" – September 22, 2010 interview with Larry King

"In Iran, nobody is in prison because of participating in protests." - September 22, 2010 interview with Larry King

Regarding the stoning of a woman: "I don't think in the world if someone is accused of murdering their husband, people would pour on the streets and rally in support of her." – September 22, 2010 interview with Larry King

"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country... In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have this." – September 24, 2007 speech at Columbia University

Oddball Quotes

"Today our country is moving towards drought, which is partly unintentional due to industry and partly intentional, as a result of the enemy destroying the clouds moving towards our country and this is a war that Iran is going to overcome." – September 10, 2012 speech at Gonbad-e Kavus, Iran

"Today there is this outstanding question that why so many killer viruses, including the HIV virus, have spread all over the world... It is obvious that the African countries must be plundered of their wealth and resources. The major powers and despots are behind the development of these diseases so they could then sell their drugs and medical equipment to the poor countries." – January 2012 speech

"We don't need to build (atomic) bombs. Bombs are for retarded people." – July 6, 2011, as reported by state media

"Those who believe in this type of thing [Paul the Octopus, who ‘predicted’ the result of World Cup matches] cannot be the leaders of the global nations that aspire, like Iran, to human perfection, basing themselves in the love of all sacred values." – July 2010 speech in Iran

"The supreme guide [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] himself has said in a fatwa that the wearing of ties or bow ties is not permitted." – July 2010 statement to ISNA state news agency

"I heard that Osama bin Laden is in Washington DC... Yes, I did. He's there. Because he was a previous partner of Mr. Bush. They were colleagues in fact in the old days. You know that. They were in the oil business together. They worked together. Mr. bin Laden never co-operated with Iran but he co-operated with Mr. Bush." – May 2010 interview with George Stephanopoulos