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Source: http://www.the-american-interest.com/articles/2014/06/02/taking-irans-anti-semitism-seriously/
Taking Iran's Anti-Semitism Seriously
(American Interest) Jeffrey Herf - Radical, theologically based hatred of Judaism, Zionism, and the State of Israel is part of the core ideological beliefs of the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran's radical anti-Semitism is a paranoid conspiracy theory that claims that the powerful and evil "Jew" is the driving force in global politics. Iran is the first government since Hitler's in which anti-Semitism constitutes a central element of its identity. An Iran with nuclear weapons would thus be the first government since Hitler's to be both willing and able to threaten a second Holocaust. A close and honest look at the beliefs of Iran's leaders would undermine the hope that the Islamic Republic is actually a normal, rational actor in world affairs. The writer is Distinguished University Professor of history at the University of Maryland.