[New York Times] Nazila Fathi - The Iranian Parliament declared Wednesday that saying Iran is a friend of the Israeli people is an "unforgivable mistake." In a statement signed by 200 members of the 290-seat assembly, Iranian lawmakers called on President Ahmadinejad to dismiss Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, the vice president for tourism, after he repeated on Sunday his earlier comment that "we are a friend of all people in the world, even Israelis and Americans." "We do not recognize a country called Israel and so we cannot recognize a nation called Israel," the lawmakers said in their statement.
2008-08-14 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive