News
Iranian military chief: Iran committed to “full annihilation of Israel”
Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, was quoted on Sunday as saying that, “the Iranian nation is standing for its cause, which is the full annihilation of Israel.”
The Iranian Fars News Agency reported that General Firouzabadi made his threat during a speech in Tehran. He also repeated Iran’s commitment to supporting Palestinians opposed to Israel’s existence.
Iranian leaders have a long record of threatening Israel existence. Former Spanish Prime Miniser Jose Maria Aznar, in a meeting held by the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs last week, said that in a private discussion in October of 2000, “Ali Khamenei told me that Israel must be burned to the ground and made to disappear from the face of the Earth.” Aznar clarified that the Iranian leader “Meant physical termination through military force.”
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caused international uproar in 2005 when he said that Israel should be “removed from the page of time”, and has been widely condemned for his repeated denial of the Holocaust.