Thursday, February 21, 2008

Ahmadinejad Strikes Again

Avi Tuchmayer

Iran's fundamentalist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unleashed a fresh round of threats Wednesday against Israel, calling the only Jewish country in the world a "filthy microbe" and a "savage animal." Speaking to an Islamist rally in the southern city of Bandar Abbas that was broadcast on national television, Ahmadinejad told supporters "World powers have created a black and dirty microbe named the Zionist regime and have unleashed it like a savage animal on the nations of the region."


The attack was the latest in a recent flurry of Iranian threats against Israel. In recent weeks two leading Iranian generals have encouraged Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah to continue the organization's ongoing fight with Israel and urged the complete destruction of the "Zionist regime." Earlier this week, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, predicted that the day was rapidly approaching that Hizbullah would achieve its goal of destroying Israel.

The United Nations Security Council is not expected to issue any condemnation of Iran's latest assault on Israel, despite a letter from Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman describing Iran's statements as "anti-Israel rhetoric and racism of the worst kind" and a "blatant violation" of the United Nations Charter. But Gillerman's letter stopped short of asking the Council to condemn the rhetoric because he wasn't sure if Israel could muster the 15 votes needed to vote in favor of condemnation.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Gillerman in a meeting between the two that was requested by the Israeli ambassador that Ahmadinejad's statements were "unbearable" and promised he would respond "decisively" to the Iranian president's talk.

The two men also discussed the abducted Israeli soldiers, the increasing strength of the Hizbullah terrorist organization and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

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