EU threatens sanctions on Iran

EUROPEAN leaders threatened sanctions against Iran for its president’s remarks about Israel and the Holocaust, even as the regime’s interior minister said yesterday the widely condemned comments were “misunderstood” by Western governments.

Leaders at a European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium, will adopt a statement condemning Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent comments describing the Holocaust as a “myth” and calling for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”

“These comments are wholly unacceptable and have no place in civilised political debate,” the draft statement said.