Tasnim – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slated Google for the wrong translation of “condolences” in the Persian language to “congratulations” in Arabic and English when Persian speakers want to offer condolences to Lebanon over the fatal blast in Beirut.

In a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday, Zarif criticized Google over a “technical glitch” that occurs when translating condolences from Persian to Arabic or English.

The foreign minister retweeted a video showing Google Translate turning the phrase “condolences to the Lebanese people” in Persian into “congratulations” in Arabic and in English, while the translation is accurate when someone wants to write “condolences to the Israeli/American people.”

“When Persian speakers want to express their condolences to the Lebanese in Arabic or English, Google translates it as ‘congratulations,’” Zarif said.

“Yet there is no such ‘technical glitch’ if one wishes to condole Israel or the US,” he tweeted. “What gives @Google?”



Google, however, fixed the Persian-to-English translation following Zarif's tweet, Press TV reported.

Tuesday’s massive explosion in Beirut’s port has killed at least 135 people, injured 5,000, and displaced 300,000 citizens.

Officials linked the blast to hundreds of tons of confiscated ammonium nitrate that were being stored in a warehouse at the port for six years.

The explosion has also destroyed Lebanon’s silos that contain the national grain reserve. Lebanon imports up to 80 percent of its food needs and is particularly reliant on imported soft wheat to make Arabic flatbread. About 85 per cent of the country's cereals were reportedly stored in the facility.