Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Western powers are concerned about Tehran’s steady progress in becoming energy independent rather than its alleged potential to build a nuclear bomb.

“The [Western] powers are in fact afraid of Iran’s many accomplishments in nuclear technology, rather than its capability to produce a nuclear bomb,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Turkey’s TRT TV channel.

Speaking ahead of a high-level visit to Turkey, the Iranian president said the nuclear issue has been “over-politicized” in recent years.

Mindful of the West’s disgruntlement about Istanbul’s growing relations with Tehran, Ahmadinejad insisted that he does not intend to “come between Turkey and its Western neighbors.”

“Iran has asked Turkey to strengthen ties with its eastern neighbors, but this should not be seen as a call for Turkey to break ties with Western countries,” he noted.

The Iranian president made the comments as he prepares for a three-day conference of the Permanent Committee of Social and Economic Cooperation (COMSEC), which kicks off in Istanbul on Sunday.

On a different note, Ahmadinejad said he supported Turkey’s bid to become a full member of the European Union, adding that it would “promote EU credibility even more.”

Turkey’s accession to the EU has been a subject of heated debate over the past few years. The country began full membership negotiations with European countries in 2005.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on the US media to shift their focus away from the Holocaust into other massacres that have taken place in the world.

“There are many historical events, similar historical events. Why is this one in particular so important to you?… During World War II, 60 million people were killed. Why are we just focusing on this special group alone?” Ahmadinejad asked in an interview with CBS.

When the CBS reporter answered that all the attention that is being paid to the matter is because he was ‘denying it’, Ahmadinejad responded by saying that he was ’sorry for all the 60 million people that lost their lives, equally’.

“All of them were human beings. And it doesn’t matter whether they were Christians or Jews or Buddhists or Muslims. They were killed. So, we’re sorry for everyone,” said Ahmadinejad.

In another interview with American paper the Washington Post, Ahmadinejad asked whether from the point of view of US media the Holocaust was an isolated issue, or one that still affected world affairs.

“You do agree that it is an important topic. Do you believe that the Holocaust still carries through to this day in terms of its effects today? Could you explain to me how it affects issues today?” he said.

“What I am saying is extremely clear. It is an academic approach to a crucial subject and also one based on humanitarian considerations. We have several specific questions with regard to the events of World War II,” Ahmadinejad added later on.

The president continued that he did not believe the answers to those questions could be ‘found through the propaganda that is promoted by the media’.

“In the end, the questions need convincing answers. The first question that I have to try and understand is why in the midst of all that happened in World War II, the Holocaust is emphasized more than any other [event]?” he asked.

“The second question is, why do Western politicians focus on this issue so much? The third question is how does that event connect with issues that we see around us in the world today?

“We should ask ourselves whether the event did take place; if so, where did it happen, who were the perpetrators, and, what was the role of the Palestinian people? What crime have they committed to deserve what they have received as a result?”

Ahmadinejad said since the beginning of the Israeli occupation, over 5 million Palestinians have become refugees.

“Why is the Holocaust used as a pretext to usurp the land of other people? Why should the Palestinian people give their lives up for it? Who is the occupier here? The United Nations resolutions condemn which occupying regime?” he asked.

“What fair-minded person can accept that an event that happened in Europe [results] in having his or her land occupied elsewhere in the world?

“Unfortunately Western politicians refuse to answer these questions and egress into other areas… We see the Holocaust as a pretext to commit genocide against the Palestinian people.”

Israel established itself in 1948 after forcing out millions of native Palestinians out of their land, because of their Arab race and Islamic religion, although they too were Semites.

According to the United Nations regulations, Palestinian refugees have an undeniable ‘Right to Return’ to their homeland, like all other indigenous people of a country who have been displaced by force.

The following are the confessions of Muhammad-Reza Ali-Zamani, a member of an anti-revolutionary group known as the Iranian Empire Society.

The 37- year-old Iranian national from the southwestern city of Eslamshahr is accused of contacting US intelligence agents in Iraq, cooperating with the “Anjoman-e Padeshahi-e Iran” (Iranian Empire Society), and attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic by targeting religious beliefs.

His confessions at Tehran’s revolutionary court are as follows:

I was born to a religious family. I have been engaged in cultural activities to an extent that I created an institution in Tehran and Eslamshahr in a bid to serve the nation and pursue cultural activities.

I became so influential that I was invited to meetings on the provincial level. In addition to these meetings, I also met with different political parties.

In order to serve my people I turned to different satellite channels. I wanted to become familiar with different views on the other side of the world and help create better society.

During the discussions on the channels, I observed major contradictions, which prompted me to find credible answers. After a while, I stumbled upon a channel named “Your TV”.

In its programs, a spokesman for the Iranian Empire Society spoke of a society without any problems. I was absorbed by the idea. He also spoke of plans to overthrow the Islamic Republic, connecting all menaces inside Iran to the Islamic governance.

After watching the channel for a considerable amount of time, I decided to contact the society in their London office. I called their office and spoke with Dordaneh Fouladvand.

After a while along with some of my friends, I decided to travel abroad and officially join the group. We contacted Ms. Fouladvand on the matter. She said before leaving the country we should carry out a mission for the society.

We were ordered to distribute a large number of CD’s containing anti-religious material in the capital Tehran. Copies of the illegal Satanic Verses were also circulated in Tehran. We then headed towards the north of Iraq and illegally exited Iran.

After arriving in the Iraqi city of Arbil where US forces were stationed, I contacted the US intelligence services and talked to an individual called Frank, who was the region’s intelligence officer

Then after I briefed them on our situation, they gave us money and reserved a room for us at a hotel. They even gave us a special cell phone to contact Frank if we encounter any security problems.

I then reported back to Fouladvand, who then referred me to a contact in the American city of Los Angeles, operating under the alias of Jamshid.

After a while, Jamshid assigned me to several operations such as taking part in an interview with Euro TV, carrying out a bombing and terrorist attacks.”

I was also briefed by my American contacts in Iraq who sought detailed information related to the government and student movements inside Iran.

I was then approached by an Israeli named Iman Afaq who in turn had introduced him to another contact in the semi autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq. The contact said he was a member of the Israeli secret service, Mossad.

I was then assigned with an operation inside Iran with the purpose of maximizing the number of casualties.

The operation, code named as Salman, was to identify senior offices within the government, the Basij and appropriate locations for prospective bombings.

Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Iran’s newly appointed Vice President, explains his earlier controversial remarks on Israel.

Rahim-Mashaei, whose appointment as the Vice President has brought Mahmoud Ahmadinejad under fire, explained his remarks on Israel in an interview with IRNA released on Tuesday.

In 2008, Rahim-Mashaei’s comments on Israel unleashed a torrent of criticism in the country when he said Iran was a “friend of the Israeli people”. He later detached himself from his earlier stance, saying that his comments had been misinterpreted.

The controversial figure, who served as the head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization before receiving the elevation, however explained his remarks on Tuesday from a different perspective.

“What I said had nothing to do with the Israeli regime. I did not talk about the usurper Zionist regime. My remarks were about the people of the occupied lands and were in fact a psychological warfare against the Israeli regime,” he said.

“What I said was that this regime was in such mess that it no longer enjoyed international support,” he added, but insisted that he did not mean that Iran was a friend with Israelis.

He went on to defend his remarks by saying that he had just criticized Israel two days before his controversial remarks.

“I had said just two days before that, in a speech broadcast by the media, that the Zionist regime was a dead one but only no funeral procession had been conducted for it.”

President Ahmadinejad has faced harsh criticism from both his supporters and his opponents over the choice of Rahim-Mashaei as his right-hand man.

Despite stiff opposition to the appointment, the President told IRIB on Tuesday that Rahim-Mashaei will not give up the post as the vice president.

The following is a rush transcript of Press TV’s interview with Mohammad Garmabdashti, an Iranian cleric who had been imprisoned by Saudi Arabia on false accusations.

I was leaving the Prophet’s mosque when an Arab came toward me and claimed that he had seen with his own eyes that I had insulted Abu Bakr, the first Caliph by spitting on his grave. I said that I was only passing by the place and had not even cast a look at it. I denied the allegation but the witness, who was originally Syrian, swore upon Allah that I had committed such a thing.

Consequently, they took me away and interrogated me but I insisted that I had not spitted and that the witness was apparently telling lies. They however opened a file against me and took me to a police station beside the mosque. After a few hours, they transferred me to the central police station of Medina. I categorically denied the accusation but they continued to ask me numerous questions.

They shackled me to another man, who was not an Iranian, and took me to a judge. I was there for one day. They once again interrogated me. I swore upon Allah that I had not committed the act I was being accused of, and I told them that their witness only sought to create discord among Muslims.

The judge did not accept my statements and also refused to hear the testimony of four Iranian witnesses who accompanied me.

The court also refused to review footage on surveillance camera on the premises, arguing that the testimony of the Arab witness will suffice.

They kept me in a dirty detention center with no light. After 13 days, I was taken to the court to hear the sentence. They sentenced me to one month in prison and 75 lashes. I was told to sign the ruling but I refused to accept the allegation and the ruling of the judge.

After an hour, they took me to the judge. The sentence was increased to three months and 75 lashes in public but I once again rejected the allegation.

On May 11, I was transferred to a quarantine to see the doctor and to be examined physically and emotionally. They made me walk a one-kilometer distance on scorching asphalt with bear foot and in shackles to get to the clinic.

They then took us to the prison, where there were different prisoners from various Muslim countries. Prisoners were not allowed to have visitors. There was no international monitoring of the situation.

The prison guards had been told that I had desecrated the grave of the first Caliph and they insulted me and used words such as dog and animal.

There were prisoners from different ages there. I interacted with them and started talking to them. They had no contact with their family. I sympathized with them, reassuring that we will soon be released.

After spending 50 days in detention, they told us that me and my three other friends would be released but we had shackles on our feet. We were then transferred to the Medina airport and flown to Jeddah in a small aircraft. With shackles on our feet, we were then transferred to the Jeddah prison, where I was kept for four days. They set us free on June 13. They removed the shackles at the airport.

They took me to the plane in a bus which was followed by a Patrol car. They left me after giving me my passport when I was aboard the plane.

They didn’t believe us. They accused and arrested us of various kinds of things. For instance, they accused me of spitting on Abu Bakr’s tomb. They accused my friend of spitting on Omar’s tomb. They also accused someone else of insulting Abu Bakr and another one of hitting the Abu Bakr and Omar’s tombs with his shoes. We never did any of these things. They bring some mercenary witnesses to testify to arrest the Iranians.

They sentenced my friend, who was accused of spiting on Omar’s tomb, to nine months in prison. He had no lawyer as the sentence was definite. Many other Iranians are in prison suffering emotionally from indetermination. They might stay there for months or years.

They keep arresting the Iranians under different pretexts on a daily basis. They do these things to disunite Muslims. The Iranian government should do something to resolve the issue as this problem is more severe for the Iranians than other nationalities.

We suggest that the Iranian pilgrims be sent there after the government is sure about the safety and security of the place the Iranians are sent to.

Born in the village of Garmabdasht in Guilan province in 1966, Garmabdashti is an Iranian cleric, teacher, essayist and writer. He established himself as a religious researcher in 1991 and was named the best teacher in the country in 2000.