Iran in an uproar over forbidden Zionist fruit

Although it remains unclear whether the original Garden of Eden was in Iran, it appears that there are at least some of the forbidden fruit. Iranian Deputy Trade Minister Hamid Safdel vehemently denied Sunday reports that the Islamic Republic has been importing vast quantities of fruit – mainly apples and oranges – from Israel. The allegations were made by a senior Iranian exporter, ynetnews reported, who said the Israeli produce was finding its way to Tehran's markets via a third party.

Safdel stressed that "any kind of trade with the Zionists is forbidden" He dismissed the reports as "unrealistic," adding that "whoever made these allegations is basing them on external import data. There is no reasonable proof of this, so the statement cannot be believed," he hissed.  Not only were the Zionist fruit forbidden, the exporter warned. They might also cause cancer.  "The majority of imported fruits are laced with materials meant to keep them fresh. These materials are carcinogens."

Last week, Mustafa Zulqadar, a member of the Iranian Parliamentary Economics Committee, blamed Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia of exporting Israeli oranges to Iran under a different name, alleging that "these countries do not grow enough oranges to sustain such exports to Iran. "The Zionist regime is one of the biggest orange exporters in the world," he added.  And to add insult to injury, it should be noted that many Israeli apples come from the "occupied" Golan Heights.

But adding a snakey twist to the controversy is that fact that, in the past, the Chinese have created knock-off orange labels to mimic those of the highly regarded Jaffa oranges, selling them to the Iranians, who apparently have developed quite a taste for the forbidden fruit, or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof.

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