The teachings of the Jewish book of law, the Talmud, are a driving force behind the international drugs trade, Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said in comments reported yesterday.

Rahimi's remarks, at an international anti-drug conference in Tehran attended by many foreign diplomats on Tuesday, were a rare diatribe by an Iranian official targeting the Jewish faith, rather than the state of Israel.

"The spread of narcotics in the world emanates from the teachings of the Talmud ... whose objective is the destruction of the world," Rahimi said in comments published by the official website of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as well as state media.

"The Talmud teaches that it is lawful to acquire wealth through legal and illegal means ... which gives (the Jews) the right to destroy humanity," he said. "If one seeks what lies behind all forms of corruption, there is the repugnant face of Zionists. This is the same case for the narcotics trade ... whose primary operator is the Zionist regime," he said.

In February last year, Iran accused Israel's Mossad spy agency of promoting drug use in Iran by selling narcotics at cut price in the hope of weakening the country.

In Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a statement slamming the Iranian government as composed of "anti-Semitic fanatics" and also criticized the presence of Western representatives at the conference.

AFP