Iran Disturbed By McCain Cigarette Joke

From Iran’s Press TV:

Iran: McCain cigarette joke, disturbing

Sat, 12 Jul 2008

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini has criticized Senator John McCain for joking about killing Iranians with cigarettes.

“McCain’s crude remark on the indiscriminate killing of the Iranian nation not only testifies to his disturbed state of mind, but also to his warmongering approach to foreign policy,” said Hosseini in a Saturday statement.

“We condemn such jokes and believe them to be inappropriate for a US presidential candidate. It is most evident that jokes about genocide will not be tolerated by Iranians or Americans,” he added.

The straight-talking Arizona senator sparked an outcry when in response to a report that US exports to Iran had increased more than tenfold during George W. Bush’s presidency, he suggested killing Iranians by sending them cigarettes.

"Maybe that’s a way of killing them,” the senior Republican opined.

Last year at a campaign meeting in South Carolina when asked if there is a plan to attack Iran, McCain joked about ‘bombing Iran’, signing a variation on the lyrics of a well-known pop song.

"You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran?" he said, singing "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" before answering the question.

He later responded to the stark criticism his remarks drew with a simple ‘lighten up’.

Wait, there’s more — also from Press TV:

Iran denies direct US cigarette imports

Sun, 13 Jul 2008

The head of Iran’s Tobacco Company has rejected a report that the country has had direct cigarette imports from the United States.

"We import cigarettes through multinational firms, not directly from the US," Mahmoud Abtahi said on Saturday.

His remarks came in response to an Associated Press report on Tuesday which said the US has exported $158 million worth of cigarettes to Iran during George W. Bush’s term as president.

US Republican presidential candidate John McCain recently joked in response to the report that the US could kill Iranians by sending them cigarettes. His remarks sparked criticism from the Islamic Republic.

"We condemn such jokes and believe them to be inappropriate for a US presidential candidate. It is most evident that jokes about genocide will not be tolerated by Iranians or Americans," said Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini.

Iran currently produces about 26 percent of the cigarettes it needs, Abtahi said, adding that the country aims to increase domestic cigarettes production to 75 percent of its total demand within the next two years.

That settles it.

If Mr. McCain’s "joke" ticked the Iranians off this much, then we will have to revise our previous assessment to two "milks."