In the poem published in European dailies earlier this week, Grass criticized what he described as Western hypocrisy over Israel's nuclear program and labeled the country a threat to "already fragile world peace" over its stance on Iran. He's since been accused of anti-Semitism.
But Iranian Deputy Culture Minister Javad Shamaqdari says in a letter that the 84-year-old poet's revelation of "truth may awaken the silent conscience" of the West. A copy of the letter was posted Saturday on the semiofficial Fars news agency.
