Embassy Row: Another Hitler in Iran

Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren compared the Iranian regime to the Nazis and denounced the Islamic theocracy for “pledging to murder another six million” Jews.

Addressing a Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at the Capitol last week, Mr. Oren warned Iran to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons or prepare for a “credible military threat.”

Israel repeatedly has pledged to destroy Iranian nuclear sites before the regime reaches the point where it can produce nuclear-weapons material.

Mr. Oren also noted that President Obama has publicly endorsed Israel’s right to protect itself against Iranian threats to destroy the Jewish state. However, administration critics believe Mr. Obama is pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyanhu to hold off any attack on Iran until after the Nov. 6 U.S. presidential election.

“Only Israel can decide how best to protect its citizens,” Mr. Oren said.

The ambassador opened his remarks with a reference to the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews and compared Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Adolf Hitler.

Mr. Oren noted that in the 1930s, the world was weary and nearly bankrupt after World War I and no national leader was prepared for another confrontation.

“Meanwhile, a radical militant movement dreamed of regional and global domination,” he said.

“Headed by a supreme leader, the movement burned books and crushed its democratic opponents. It amassed vast arsenals of advanced weaponry and invaded neighboring countries.

“The radicals played on their nation’s injured pride and stressed its racial superiority. The movement denigrated the Jewish people as a cancer that had to be cut out.

“Today, too, there is such a radical regime in Iran. It also has a supreme leader. It also butchers its democratic opponents, supports terror, and seeks regional and global hegemony. The Iranian regime similarly espouses racism.

“It denies the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis, while pledging to murder another six million - in Israel.”

DIPLOMATIC TRAFFIC

Foreign visitors in Washington this week include:

Monday

• Finance Minister Anders Borg of Sweden, who addresses the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

• Health ministers Suraya Dalil of Afghanistan, Mam Bunheng of Cambodia and Bautista Rojas Gomez of the Dominican Republic; and Uzziel Ndagijimana, permanent secretary of Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. They address the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

• Sham Bathija, senior adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Noorullah Delawari, governor of the Afghan Central Bank. They address the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

• Salima Ikram of the American University in Cairo, who holds a 4 p.m. news conference at the National Press Club to discuss Egyptology and antiquities in post-revolution Egypt.

Wednesday

• R.V. Kanoria, president, and Rajiv Kumar, secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. They address the Center for Strategic and International Studies about relations between India and Pakistan.

Thursday

• Crown Prince Leka II Zogu of Albania, who addresses the Washington Leadership Program at 4 p.m. in Room 2218 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

• Andreas D. Mavroyiannis, Cyprus’ deputy minister for European affairs, who discusses Cyprus’ upcoming presidency of the European Union in a briefing at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

• Claude-France Arnould, executive director of the European Defense Agency; Agostino Miozzo, managing director of the EU Crisis Response and Operational Coordination; Olof Skoog, permanent chairman of the EU’s Political and Security Committee; Lt. Gen. Ton Van Osch, director-general of the EU military staff, and Pierre Vimont, executive secretary-general of the European Union’s diplomatic corps. They speak at a forum on European security.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297 or email jmorrison@washingtontimes.com. The column is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.