Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Who should be feared, Washington and Israel or Iran?

Following strong remarks by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel’s destruction, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement denouncing recent U.S. threats supported by Israeli officials.

On Friday, the Iranian embassy sought to allay the outcry caused by Mr Ahmed Ahmadinejad’s words, saying he "did not have any intention to speak up in such sharp terms and enter into a conflict".

"It's absolutely clear that, in his remarks, Mr. Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, underlined the key position of Iran, based on the necessity to hold free elections on the occupied territories," the Iranian embassy in Moscow said in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry called on the UN Security Council to intervene and try and stop America and Israel’s war of words and repetitive threats, citing recent remarks made by Vice President Dick Cheney and Israeli officials hinting at striking the Islamic republic

"The Iranian nation and the world at large asks of the Security Council, how many sessions it has held to investigate and act on similar threats against UN member states, and why it hasn’t passed appropriate resolutions condemning these threats" the ministry said in its statement, urging the Security Council to condemn the "repeated crimes" of what it called the Zionist regime, in particular, the "massacre and terror against the Palestinians."

"If, for whatever reason, the Security Council is unable to redress the grievances of the Palestinian nation, it should at least pass the appropriate resolution to condemn the repeated commission, particularly over recent days, of crimes like the bombardment of Palestinian areas and homes and the massacre of innocent women and children, upon the direct orders of this terrorist regime."

"In Palestine, a durable peace will be possible through justice, an end to discrimination and occupation of Palestinian lands, the return of all Palestinian refugees, and the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state with Al Quds Al Sharif [Jeruselum] as its capital."


Shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, numerous media reports, citing senior Israeli officials, hinted at a possible Israeli attack on Iran.

Those sources have been listed by Iran’s foreign ministry as follows;

1. On February 20, 2004, Israel Radio announced that Israel’s F16 fighters could target all parts of Iran.

2. On November 24, 2003, Scotland newspaper said that Israeli officials told the United States they’re prepared for an attack on Iran as it did in the case of Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981.

3. On October 11, 2003, a report published on German newsmagazine, Der Spiegel, said that the Israeli Air Force was ready to attack Tehran and that plans to attack Iran's facilities have been finalized and are just awaiting an order from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to be carried out.

4. On August 17, 2003, a Washington Post report detailed a meeting between Sharon and the American President during which the Israeli PM called for a U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear power plant in Bushehr.

5. On October 8, 2005, The New York Sun newspaper wrote that Sharon’s threats against Iran were among the best news it had yet covered.

6. On October 24, 2005, Los Angeles Times commented on statements by the Israeli PM and his senior aids, saying that they’ve been using ambiguous yet precise language which is tantamount to a threat to resort to force.

7. On April 13, 2005, the Austrian Die Presse daily published a report saying that Israel has revealed that the United States would resort to the military option to put an end to Iran's atomic ambitions.

8. On August 14, 2005, Al-Watan, a Saudi newspaper, revealed that segments of the "Zionist" regime's Air Force were ready to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

9. On September 24, 2005, Turkey's Milliyet daily said an Israeli parliamentary delegation visiting Washington urged the U.S. government to launch a military strike against Iran.

10. On November 24, 2003, Israel's Daily, Haaretz, quoted Israeli Defense Minister Shaol Mofaz as saying that Israel would attack Iran if necessary.

11. On April 29, 2003, Reuters news agency said that Danny Ayalon, Israel’s ambassador to the United States called for regime change in Iran and Syria.

12. IRNA bureau in New York revealed that Vice President Dick Cheney in a telephone conversation on January 31, 2005, raised the possibility of an Israeli military strike against the Islamic Republic, with or without the U.S.’ approval.


Israel and the U.S. have been trying to lobby international support against Iran’s nuclear program, claiming that the Islamic republic is covertly trying to manufacture a nuclear bomb.

Iran, a signatory of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, which Israel refuses to sign, has repeatedly rejected those claims as politically motivated.

Israel has long been relying on "strategic ambiguity" regarding the possession of nuclear weapons; neither confirming nor denying it’s in the process of or already having such weapons, but it’s widely known that Israel has been a nuclear state for several decades. Estimates of the Israeli nuclear arsenal range from 75--200 weapons.

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