Iran could face sanctions if it keeps provoking Israel and the West, European leaders warned Saturday, hours after Iran's interior minister said his president's comments had been "misunderstood."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier this week called the Holocaust a "myth."
European leaders said Ahmadinejad's remarks were the latest "provocative political moves" from Tehran since May. "These comments are wholly unacceptable and have no place in civilized political debate," the leaders said in a summit statement Saturday, according to AP.
EU leaders warned Iran they would review diplomatic options for possible sanctions against Tehran. The EU statement reaffirmed Israel's right to exist, noting that "all members of the United Nations have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."
This condemnation came as Iran is set to resume talks Wednesday with European representatives over its nuclear development plans.
"I haven't seen any evidence that Iran is interested in a deal that is going to be acceptable to an international community that is extremely skeptical of what the Iranians are up to," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told The Associated Press Friday.
Rice projected the United States would have enough votes at the U.N. Security Council to impose international sanctions against Iran. "We also recognize that it is important for others to also come to the conclusion that we've exhausted the diplomatic possibilities," she said.
