Destruction of Israel close

[Christina]

Ahmadinejad: Destruction of Israel closeAssociated Press, Jun. 3, 2007 --------------------------------------------------------------------------Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday said the world would witness the destruction of Israel soon, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Ahmadinejad said last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah in Lebanon showed "for the first time hegemony of the occupier regime (Israel) collapsed and that pushed the button counting the days until the destruction of Zionist regime," IRNA quoted him as saying. "God willing, in near future we will witness destruction of the corrupt occupier regime," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying during a speech to foreign guests who attended ceremonies marking the 18th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who is known as the father of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has lost public support after Israel failed to achieve its goals during last summer's 34-day war with Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon - freeing two captured soldiers and crushing the militant group. The war was sparked after two IDF soldiers were kidnapped by Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbullah militants in a cross-border raid. The fighting ended with a UN-brokered cease-fire that called for deployment of UN peacekeepers and Lebanese troops in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel. Ahmadinejad has made anti-Israel comments in the past. In October 2005, he caused outrage in the West when he said in a speech that Israel's "Zionist regime should be wiped off the map." His supporters have argued Ahmadinejad's words were mistranslated and should have been better translated as "vanish from the pages of time" - implying Israel would vanish on its own rather be destroyed.

 

[Christina]

Spain will summon Iran's ambassador to condemn the Iranian president's latest verbal attack on Israel, officials said Monday. On Sunday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the world would witness the destruction of Israel soon, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos called Ahmadinejad's comments "unacceptable." "These words need a strong response," he told Spanish national radio. Moratinos will summon Iran's ambassador in the coming days, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, echoed Moratino's criticism of Ahmadinejad, saying that his words on Sunday were not in line with Teheran's efforts to play a central role in the Middle East. "[Iran's] vocation in both the Israel-Palestinian conflict and in relations between Israel and Lebanon cannot be used as a catalyst for doubt in Israel's right to exist," said Kouchner

 

[Christina]

Iran and North Korea are in advanced negotiations for Tehran’s purchase of Taep’o-dong-2 ballistic missiles, whose estimate range is 3,500-4,000 km., DEBKAfile’s exclusive intelligence sources report. North Korea’s deputy foreign minister Kim Hyong brought the proposition to its final stages when he visited Tehran in the first week of May. Delivery was promised for late July or early August. US Vice President Richard Cheney informed Saudi King Abdullah of this development during his May visit to Riyadh, as DEBKA-Net-Weekly 300 first revealed on May 11.Israeli military sources say that Iranian president Mahoud Ahmadinejad’s declarations are made even more outrageous than ever by knowledge of the deal. Sunday he declared the countdown has begun for the demise of the Zionist state. Aly Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme national Security Council said Monday: “The deployment of the US air system in Europe to counter Iranian missiles is the joke of the year.” He said Iran’s missiles could not reach Europe. That may have been true at this moment – but not after the delivery of the North Korean missiles at summer’s end. Russian president Vladimir Putin was also undoubtedly aware of this when he said Europe is not threatened by long-range missiles from Iran. In fact, Tehran’s acquisition of the Taep’o-dong-2 will triple its long-range missile arsenal and upgrade its range and quality.