Following are excerpts from a debate by candidates in the Iranian presidential race, between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former Majlis speaker Mehdi Karroubi. The debate aired on Iranian Channel 3 on June 6, 2009.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/2141.
Karroubi: "Our Relations With The Entire World Have Been Damaged... Then We Are Told That the Sanctions Have No Effect [On Us] Whatsoever"
Mehdi Karroubi: "Some time ago, Ahmadinejad went to Iraq, and then he said that the Americans had tried to kidnap him, but that he had managed to return [to Iran]. It is true that America is malicious and arrogant, but there is accountability in the world. The U.S. would not kidnap someone just like that. They take their national interests into consideration." [...]
"I'd like to say that our relations with the entire world have been damaged, and serious problems have cropped up - with Italy, European countries, and many other countries. Our relations with some countries have become... Then we are told that the sanctions have no effect [on us] whatsoever." [...]
Karroubi: Former Mossad Head Says "No One Ensures Israeli Interests Better Than Ahmadinejad"
"The former head of the Mossad says... Now I will be accused of being a Zionist because I'm reading this. He says: 'If the Mossad were to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on someone who would ensure Israeli interests - no one could do this better than Ahmadinejad.'
"In the same interview with Israeli Arabic TV, he said that no one ensures Israeli interests better than Ahmadinejad. He then claimed that "the existence of Ahmadinejad is a miracle and valuable and even divine - gift for Israel. Every sentence that Ahmadinejad says against Israel makes things easier for Israel in the world." What is the meaning of all this? They think you have become an international hero?!
"My dear brother, Mr. Ahmadinejad, this isn't just some fantasy. The message of Khomeini and the message of Ahmadinejad are as different as night and day." [...]
Ahmadinejad: "I Don't Think the World is Only a Few European Countries and the U.S"
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "With regard to Israel, or 'the Zionist regime' - it's a disgrace for me to use the term 'Israel' - Imam [Khomeini] said something nice. He said: 'They are so impure that when they touch the ocean, they pollute it.'
[...]
"I have raised two questions about the Zionist regime. Why does this bother you? I asked where this Holocaust took place, and why the solution to it should be in Palestine. If it didn't happen, why don't you let... The Europeans are fed up with all this. You had a warm welcome in Italy - good for you. I don't think the world is only a few European countries and the U.S. Mr. Karroubi, go back to what Imam [Khomeini] said." [...]
Ahmadinejad: "In Your Paper, You Leveled Accusations Against My Wife"; Karroubi: "Do You Expect to Say Whatever You Like About Others, While Others Are Not Allowed to Respond?"
Mehdi Karroubi: "Whether the Holocaust did or did not take place is one issue, but [by your statements] you are defending Hitler. Do you think you are defending someone sacred, like the Hidden Imam or Salman the Persian? You are defending Hitler."
[...]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "With regard to your home - how did it grow, all of a sudden, from 100 meters to several hundred meters, and in the best location in Tehran? I'm just asking..."
Mehdi Karroubi: "Let me explain this. Give me two or three minutes."
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Mr. Karroubi, at the end of the day, people talk."
Mehdi Karroubi: "First we should check if what you're saying is true or not."
[...]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "In your paper, you leveled accusations against my wife, who doesn't play any role. Maybe you don't know..."
Mehdi Karroubi: "True, I don't know."
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "If a president or someone who wants to be a president doesn't know what is written in his own newspaper, how can he be the president of a country?
"Mr. Karroubi, with all due respect to you, your robes, white beard, and career - how come you don't know that they published a picture of my wife, and leveled false accusations against her? Go ahead and check it out."
Mehdi Karroubi: "You yourself waved the picture of a respectable man's wife in front of him. Do you expect to say whatever you like about others, while others are not allowed to respond?"
