Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: In his own words
- Published
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeatedly described the Holocaust as a "fabricated myth". He did it for the first time in 2005, during his speech in Zahedan.
At the World without Zionism conference in Tehran in 2006, Mr Ahmadinejad said Israel should cease to exist - it was not the first time, nor the last during his presidency, that he made such remarks.
Mr Ahmadinejad's appearance at New York's Columbia University in 2007 sparked protests in the city. Many Americans said he shouldn't have been invited to speak, even though his appearance was very popular.
Mr Ahmadinejad dismissed sanctions issued by the United States, United Nations and European Union as just a piece of paper, during a TV interview.
Mr Ahmadinejad referred to the opposition as "dust and dirt" while speaking at Theran's Vali-Asr Square, just two days after the disputed election in 2009.
Mr Ahmadinejad boasted about the liberal qualities of his country during an interview with German network RTL.
President Ahmadinejad blamed "sabotage from the West" as Iran suffered droughts as the country was hit with one of the worst heat waves on record.
In 2012, Mr Ahmadinejad responded with an unprecedented challenge to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei when he warned senior officials to stop fighting among themselves.
Mourning Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Mr Ahmadinejad said he believed Chavez would "return with Jesus and the Perfect Human [Shia Islam's last Imam] to construct a peaceful, joyful and equal human society".