Ahmadinejad: did NOT say he'd wipe Israel off the map (read)

The Actual Quote:

Ahmadninejad's exact words in Farsi:

"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad."

That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a bell: rezhim-e. It is the word "regime." pronounced just like the English word with an extra "eh" sound at the end.

Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country or Israel the land mass, but the Israeli regime.

If you want to get technical, he wasn't even referring explicitly to the regime, just idea of Zionism.

This is a vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map.

Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the specific phrase "rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods" (regime occupying Jerusalem).

So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want "wiped from the map"?

The answer is: nothing. That's because the word "map" was never used.

The Persian word for map, "nagsheh" is not contained anywhere in his original Farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase "wipe out" ever said.

Yet we are led to believe that Iran's president threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." despite never having uttered the words "map." "wipe out" or even "Israel."

The Proof:

The full quote translated directly to English:

"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."

Word by word translation:

Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).


As you all know Fox is a news organization with a self-proclaimed neoconervative agenda. It is in their interest to spread misinformation that furthers their cause, especially against regimes hostile towards those ideologically allied to them (Israel, for example)


Thank you for reading. You've just learnt something new.