Special Dispatch | No. 2826 | February 25, 2010
Iran |
In Past Two Weeks, Iranian President Ahmadinejad Repeatedly Calls for Eliminating Israel
In the past two weeks, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has several times reiterated his call for eliminating Israel. In a number of conversations with the leaders of countries in the region and with Iran's allies, Ahmadinejad stressed that Iran would stand alongside Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian organizations if they were to be attacked by Israel, and stated that this time there must be joint action to bring about Israel's end.
The following are several recent statements by Ahmadinejad on eliminating Israel:
At a press conference with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus on February 25, 2010, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "A Middle East without Zionism is a divine promise... Time is on the side of the peoples of the region. The Zionist entity is nearing the threshold of nonexistence. Its raison d'être is finished, and its path is a dead end. If Israel wants to repeat the mistakes of the past, the death of the Zionist entity is certain... This time, all the nations of the region will stand fast in the face of the [Zionist regime], and will uproot it."
Ahmadinejad promised further that "the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance and the Syrian people are standing alongside each other."[1]
In a February 23, 2010 speech in Birjand in eastern Iran, Ahmadinejad said: "I have told Israel's neighbors to be prepared. I told them that if Israel makes one more mistake, this is the end of this regime."[2]
In a February 18, 2010 phone conversation with Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, Ahmadinejad assessed that Israel wants war in the region as compensation for its defeats in Gaza and in Lebanon – but that it "fears the ramifications of such a move." He called on Hizbullah to prepare for a possible Israeli attack, and said: "We must be ready at such a level that if they [Israel] repeat their mistake from the past [that is, attack Lebanon], an end will be put [to the Zionist regime], and the region will be delivered from its evil." He promised that "on this issue, the Iranian nation stands alongside the nations of the region, and alongside Lebanon."[3]
In another February 18 conversation, this time with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Ahmadinejad reiterated his statements to Nasrallah and called for planning "for every kind of possible attack by the Zionist regime, so that if it repeats its mistakes of the past, the matter [of Israel] will be ended. This is possible," he continued, "because they [i.e. the Israelis] are in a position of weakness... Without a doubt, Israel will take heavy blows due to the solidarity among Lebanon, Syria, and the other friendly countries."[4]
In a February 10, 2010 phone conversation with Syrian President Assad, Ahmadinejad promised that "Iran will always stand alongside Syria and Lebanon, the Palestinian resistance [organizations,] and the rest of the Muslim nations." He called on Syria to act together with Iran against Israel: "If the Zionist regime again repeats its mistakes from the past, and launches a military operation, all forces must be brought into action, and an end must be put [to the Zionist regime], by means of steadfastness and resistance."
He added that Israel was "on the slope of downfall" and that "all its moves are being made from a position of weakness."[5]
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[1] www.nowlebanon.com, Mehr, Iran, February 25, 2010.
[2] Fars (Iran), February 23, 2010.
[3] ILNA (Iran), February 18, 2010.
[4] Website of the institution of the Iranian presidency, Iran, February 18, 2010.
[5] Website of the institution of the Iranian presidency, Iran, February 10, 2010.
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