---

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran’s president on Saturday rejected U.S. and European pressure to freeze the country’s nuclear program and hinted that Iran may withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The remarks came in a speech to tens of thousands of Iranians massed in Tehran’s Azadi Square to mark the 27th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought a Muslim theocracy to power.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said that the true Holocaust was happening now in the Palestinian territories and Iraq. The Iranian leader has caused worldwide outrage by questioning the Jewish genocide and arguing Israel should be “wiped off the map.”

Ahmadinejad appeared in part to be responding to a call on Thursday by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for Iran to restore a freeze on its nuclear activities and pursue talks to shift its uranium enrichment program to Russia.

“The nuclear policy of the Islamic Republic so far has been peaceful. Until now, we have worked inside the agency (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the NPT (Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty) regulations.

“If we see you want to violate the right of the Iranian people by using those regulations (against us), you should know that the Iranian people will revise its policies,” he said.

'The West is hiding its ugly face'
He did not specify what changes Tehran envisioned, but it was believed to be a threat to withdraw from the NPT and the IAEA.

“The West is hiding its ugly face behind international bodies, but these bodies have no reputation among nations. You have destroyed the reputation of the NPT,” the Iranian president said.

“If you want to find the real Holocaust, you will find it in Palestine where Zionists kill Palestinians everyday. You will find it in Iraq,” he said.

He also charged that “Zionists” were behind the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that have set off global demonstrations by angry Muslims and attacks on Western embassies.

“Now in the West insulting the prophet is allowed, but questioning the Holocaust is considered a crime,” he said. “We ask, why do you insult the prophet? The response is that it is a matter of freedom, while in fact they (who insult the founder of Islam) are hostages of the Zionists. And the people of the U.S. and Europe should pay a heavy price for becoming hostages to Zionists,” he declared.

Annan urges negotiations
While Iran’s nuclear program has been formally reported to the U.N. Security Council, Annan urged Iran to continue negotiations with Britain, France and Germany, which are trying to resolve the nuclear dispute.

“And I hope Iran will continue to freeze its activities, the way they are now, to allow talks to go forward, to allow them to pursue the Russian offer, and to allow negotiations with the European three and the Russians to come back to the table,” Annan said.

The three European nations have led months of futile talks on behalf of the 25-nation European Union amid suspicions that Iran’s civilian nuclear program is aimed at producing nuclear weapons — not electricity as Tehran insists.

Tensions escalated last month after Iran removed U.N. seals and began nuclear research, including small-scale uranium enrichment.

On Feb. 11, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board voted to send Iran’s nuclear file to the Security Council, saying it lacked confidence in Tehran’s nuclear intentions and accusing Iran of violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Iran responded by ending voluntary cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency and announcing it would start uranium enrichment and bar surprise inspections of its facilities.

But the Islamic republic left the door open for further negotiations over its nuclear program, saying it was willing to discuss Moscow’s proposal to shift large-scale enrichment operations to Russian territory in an effort to allay suspicions.

High-level talks on the proposal begin in Moscow on Feb. 16, but Russia says it still awaits word from Tehran. The proposal is backed by the United States and the European Union as a way to provide additional oversight of Iran’s use of atomic fuel.

After years of opposition, Russia and China backed sending the Iran nuclear file to the Security Council. But in return, Moscow and Beijing demanded that the United States, France and Britain agree to let the Iran issue rest until March when the IAEA board meets to review the agency’s investigation of Iran’s nuclear program and compliance with board demands that it renounce uranium enrichment.

Annan said the IAEA report was expected at the end of the month.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

---