Iran President Hassan Rouhani moves to scrap anti-Israel conference
12 Oct 2013 6:31 AM IST
The administration of Iran’s new President Hassan Rowhani has cancelled an anti-Israeli conference as part of his outreach to the West and efforts to map out a new diplomatic path for Iran.
The annual event was set up by Rowhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and showcased the former president’s vitriolic anti-Israeli rhetoric and promoted his anti-Israeli sentiments.
When the conference was first held in 2005, Ahmadinejad made his infamous remark that Israel should be ‘wiped off the map’.
Iranian news websites, including jahannews.com, said on Friday that the Foreign Ministry scrapped the gathering because it was seen as undermining the government’s policy of ‘interaction with the outside world’.
But one of the organisers is quoted by several websites as saying the cancellation is a ‘disaster’.
The annual event was set up by Rowhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and showcased the former president’s vitriolic anti-Israeli rhetoric and promoted his anti-Israeli sentiments.
When the conference was first held in 2005, Ahmadinejad made his infamous remark that Israel should be ‘wiped off the map’.
Iranian news websites, including jahannews.com, said on Friday that the Foreign Ministry scrapped the gathering because it was seen as undermining the government’s policy of ‘interaction with the outside world’.
But one of the organisers is quoted by several websites as saying the cancellation is a ‘disaster’.
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