Iran: Israel should be wiped off map

I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, we obviously have in Iran an irresponsible administration that is not helping its cause by calling for an end to it's regional adversary. With the US and the UK on the path to war and a precedent for preemption in Iraq, rhetoric such as this only gives the global community more reason to treat the Middle East like the family problem child.

On the other hand, because Iran is now so intimately tied to Russia, which is intimately tied to China (with their bombs and billion + people and the glavin), Iran could literally go on world wide television tomorrow calling for a second Holocaust and other than complain about it, there's not much the Western world could do to have Tehran cease this sort of behavior. I still contend that the Iranians aren't totally serious when they talk about ending Israel because in their heart of hearts, they know it would mean the end of the Persian race, courtesy of the USA. MAD works, never forget that.

Obviously I don't approve of this sort of thing and I wish that the mullahs would get a life however, I feel that we're stuck with it until the Iranian people decide that their society is unacceptable. Though the more I read about other cultures (currently reading about Putin's Russia) the more I realize that the bar for acceptable civilzation is rather low outside of the US.

I'll probably address this theme in a longer column next week after I take my fiance to Boston for the weekend, but in the meantime, here's President Ahmadinejad of Iran: Establishment of Israel offensive move; Islamic nation will not let its historic enemy live in its midst.

The State of Israel should be wiped off the map, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday, underscoring Teheran’s extreme attitude towards the Jewish State.

The Iranian leader's remarks were made during a convention entitled "A World Without Zionists."

“The establishment of the State of Israel was an offensive move. The Islamic nation will not let its historic enemy live in its midst,” he said.

Meanwhile senior American officials associated with President George W. Bush issued stern warnings to Iran in an interview published Wednesday in the London-based Arabic daily al-Sharq al-Awsat saying that “Washington is working diligently to find ways to force Iran to comply with demands by the international community that it abandons its nuclear program.”

According to the report, the U.S. plans to pressure Iran through accusations of involvement in several terror activities around the world that killed American citizens. One of the most likely files to be reopened in Washington is the bombing of the U.S. Marines compound in Beirut in 1983. The U.S. will also hit on the assassination of Iranian opposition figures by Iranian secret agents operating abroad.

Jane’s Defense Weekly magazine reported yesterday that Iran is assisting Syria, Israel’s neighbor and arch enemy, with acquiring the know-how to produce advanced chemical weapons.

According to al-Sharq al-Awsat, a few months ago Syria and Iran signed a mutual assistance agreement by which Syria will provide Iran with advanced military technologies in return for assistance in producing banned weapons.


Under a multi-million dollar project Iran will help Syria set up missile-launching sites, perform test launches of ballistic missiles and acquiring chemical weapons like mustard gas and nerve gas, the magazine reported.

Iranian nukes could encourage others

Meanwhile, Iran’s nuclear program is raising significant concerns among international experts. John Chapman, a British international strategy expert, warned that the development of Iranian nuclear weapons could change the stance of other Middle Eastern countries and also push them to produce such arms.

Speaking at a press conference attended by other experts, Chapman estimated Iran was still far from acquiring nuclear capabilities and said the international community should focus on diplomatic efforts to resolve the problem.

Chapman said great importance should be attached to curbing Teheran’s nuclear ambitions, particularly because other countries in the region, such as Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, may also be interested in developing such capabilities, in order not to fall behind in the regional arms race.

U.S., France and Spain react

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said Washington took Iran's recent statement that "Israel should be wiped off the map" seriously."It underscores the concerns we have about Iran's nuclear intentions," he told reporters.

France's Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy slammed the Iranian threat. He said he has invited the Iranian ambassador in his country for talks following the statements by Iranian President.

"If the reports are true, this is unfathomable. I completely condemn the statements," said Douste-Blazy.

Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos also summoned Iran's ambassador to
protest the comments.

In a statement, Moratinos said he rejected the remarks in the strongest possible terms and had called for an urgent meeting with Iran's ambassador in Madrid.