The Israeli Foreign Ministry published a letter on its website Monday by its UN envoy calling on the UN Security Council to condemn Iran’s “outrageous statements, which called for the destruction of Israel and spread vile anti-Semitism”.
The appeal by Minister-Counsellor Israel Nitzan, a member of Israel’s delegation to the UN, to Security Council president Gerard Araud referred to last Friday’s remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in which he called on “all human communities to wipe out this scarlet letter, meaning the Zionist regime, from the forehead of humanity”.
He also invoked comments by Revolutionary Guards General Amir Ali J-Hajizadeh which threatened an Iranian military strike on Israel, claiming “the forged regime will be wiped out of the map and thrown into the trash bin of history forever”.
Highlighting the danger of “complacency in the face of Iranian hate speech and incitement”, especially in light of the fact that Iran, like Israel, is a member of the United Nations, Nitzan went on to say: “One can only imagine what such an extremist regime would do if it got its hands on the world’s most dangerous weapons.”
Insisting there are instances “when silence is not an option”, he went on to call on “the Security Council and all responsible members of the international community to condemn Iranian hate speech without further delay”.
The EU has already spoken out against Iran’s inflammatory statements, with foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton issuing her “strong” condemnation via a statement Sunday. Describing the Iranian administration’s recent comments as “outrageous and hateful”, she insisted “Israel’s right to exist must not be called into question” and called on the controversial Iranian regime “to play a constructive role in the region” and “to de-escalate tension and not to fuel it”.
Meanwhile, one of the Iran’s leading religious leaders Ayatollah Yousef Sanei called on the Islamist Republic not to act “as warmongers in our country and provoke a war” with Israel. Describing any such attack as “the greatest crime against the Iranian nation”, he added that in the event of military action “Iran will be hurt greatly, even though the Zionist regime will be hurt even more”.
Speaking at an Eid celebration to observe the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, he issued a warning to “the Zionist regime that if takes any military action against Iran, it will be playing with gunpowder and the reaction that it will experience will be such that it will not recover from it”. Despite purporting to “support human rights and freedom for all”, he insisted Iran had a “duty” to counter any Israeli strike “in such a way that this regime (Israel) will never think of such things”, adding that “in that case we will not be caring about human rights”.
His warnings appeared to go unheeded by Israel, however, as Israeli television carried reports Monday night that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is determined to attack Iran before the US elections” on November 6.
Following up on previous claims Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak are “almost decided” on launching a military offensive, Israel’s Channel 10 stated that “from the prime minister’s point of view, the time for action is getting ever closer”.
Earlier on Monday, former coalition partner and opposition party Kadima head Shaul Mofaz called for an urgent meeting with the premier to justify his intentions to launch an “immoral and operationally illogical” strike on Iran.
Describing Netanyahu’s apparent preference for pursuing military action as opposed to ceding to US demands for “time and space for diplomacy”, he claimed that Netanyahu’s main reason for advocating a pre-emptive strike was “his lack of faith in (US President Barack) Obama”.