Iranian official Abolfazl Zohrevand said in a June 14 interview that if Israel “really wants to exist where it is now — fine,” adding: “Why would I care?” He also said the Palestinians were “idiots” for selling their land to the Jews and claimed nobody dares tell them they already “gave it away.”
Zohrevand, a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that Khomeini’s description of Israel as a “cancerous growth” meant Israel would have to be removed only if it became “malignant” by seeking territorial expansion.
Otherwise, he said, it could be left alone, since the Jews only claim they want a state of their own.
But Zohrevand added that Iran’s current Supreme Leader believes such an outcome is impossible because Israel seeks to expand. His remarks expose the deep contradiction inside Tehran’s rhetoric: even when an Iranian official admits Israel’s existence is not his concern, the regime still frames the Jewish state as a threat that must be confronted.