At a ceremony marking the International Day against Drug Abuse in Tehran earlier this week (June 26), Iranian vice president Mohammad Reza Rahimi delivered an unprecedented, public anti-Semitic tirade in front of local and international dignitaries.

Breaking the usual practice of the Islamic Republic — which demonizes Zionists while purporting to respect the Jewish religion — Rahimi blamed the spread of drugs on the teachings of the Talmud, an important  text that brings together centuries of discussions in Jewish academies explaining Judaism’s oral laws.

Rahimi went on to say that the Talmud teaches how to destroy non-Jews and that 80% of America’s wealth is in the hands of 6% of the world’s Jewish population. He quoted an American researcher, who he did not name, to claim that a Jewish gynecologist sterilized 8,000 Native Americans, which Rahimi asserted was in accordance with the Talmud. He also blamed the Talmud for what he said are anti-Christian and anti-Muslim teachings and claimed that Jews see “others at their service.” Delving into the rich international grab-bag of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, he blamed Jews for the Russian revolution — in which he asserted that “not a single Jew died” — trying to take over the world and fomenting differences between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Half way through the tirade, Rahimi seemed to become aware that he had gone too far and attempted a bit of damage control.  “We respect the followers of the Prophet Moses, but we are against global Zionism,” he said. He then blamed “Zionists” for the world drug trade and for opposing “manifestations of independence and freedom of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”