Cuba's Fidel Castro criticises Iran over anti-Semitism

international | anti-war | other press Wednesday September 08, 2010 12:55 by Wat Tyler

Fidel criticises anti-Semitism on the part of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but also made clear his understanding of Irans fear of attack from Israel and the US. This is from an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, a journalist who writes for The Atlantic magazine. Full text at link.

Fidel Castro has criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for what he called his anti-Semitic attitudes. The former Cuban leader also warned that an escalating conflict between Iran and the West could lead to nuclear war. Over the course of a five-hour discussion, Mr Castro "repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism", and criticised Mr Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust.

Mr Castro told Mr Goldberg that he understood Iranian fears of Israeli-American aggression and that he did not believe that sanctions and threat would dissuade Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons.

"The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust," the former president said. Mr Castro said that Iran could further the cause of peace by "acknowledging the 'unique' history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence", Mr Goldberg wrote.

Fidels message to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, he said, was simple: Israel will only have security if it gives up its nuclear arsenal, and the rest of the world's nuclear powers will only have security if they, too, give up their weapons.