The President of Iran claimed today that the Holocaust was a myth put about by Europeans to justify creating a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world.

Speaking to thousands of people in the southeastern city of Zahedan, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "Today, they have created a myth in the name of Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets."

Mr Ahmadinejad said that it was the Europeans who committed crimes against the Jews and they, the United States or Canada, should give part of their land to the Jews to establish a state.

The President pleased hardliners in Iran but provoked an international outcry when in October he called Israel a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map".

Last week, he suggested that Israel should be transferred to Europe.

"If you (Europeans) committed this big crime, then why should the oppressed Palestinian nation pay the price?" he asked rhetorically today.

"You (Europeans) have to pay the compensation yourself. This is our proposal: give a part of your own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to them (Jews), so that the Jews can establish their country," he said.

He said that the West had harmed Muslims, invaded their countries and plundered their wealth.

"If your civilisation consists of aggression, making oppressed people homeless, suffocating the voices of justice and bringing poverty to a majority of the world’s people, we say loudly that we hate your hollow civilisation," he said.

The president’s views contrast with those of his predecessor Mohammad Khatami, a political moderate who used to call for a dialogue among civilisations and promoted a low-key understanding with the United States that stopped short of diplomatic relations.

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