In an interview on CNN, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad said over the weekend that he was “not intimidated by Zionist terror. Their threats to attack us are based on made-up reasons.” He added that Iran was also not intimidated by threats from the U.S., and that he had no intention of stopping his country's nuclear development program. Even if Israel attacked Iran, he said, his country would survive. “It will not affect us in an important way,” he added.

Ahmedinajad added that Israel was an illegal state, and that Zionism had nothing to do with Judaism. “They have no roots in the land. How do I know this? Many of these Zionists were once in Iran. Does this mean that Iran belongs to the Jews? Iran belongs to the Iranians, whether they are Jews, Muslims or Christians.”