55

Two claims attributed to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have intensified the pressure that the United States and Israel have put on his country: he is accused of denying the Holocaust and threatening a genocide against Israel’s population. Iran is often presented as a new Nazi Germany and President Ahmadinejad as a new Hitler. This article traces the origins of these accusations and explains the role that the confusion between the Jews, on one hand, and the state of Israel, on the other, has played in shaping Western perceptions of Iran. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of avoiding knee-jerk reactions and acting rationally, particularly when dealing with leaders the West deems irrational.