Text 29029, 52 rader
Skriven 2007-06-03 17:18:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Iran
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This clown is playing to the left in this country....  As with WWI and 
WWII Europe sits idly by ...

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http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSBLA32653020070603?feedType=
RSS&rpc=22

Iran president sees "countdown" to Israel's end
Sun Jun 3, 2007 3:18PM EDT

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president said on Sunday the Lebanese and the 
Palestinians had pressed a "countdown button" to bring an end to Israel.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who triggered outrage in the West two 
years ago when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map", has often 
referred to the destruction of the Jewish state but says Iran is not a 
threat.

"With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the 
Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon 
and Palestine," Ahmadinejad said in a speech.

"By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the 
near future," he said. He did not elaborate.

Iran often praises the Palestinians for what it says is their resistance 
against Israeli occupation. Tehran also described the war last summer 
between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel as a victory for the Iranian-
backed group.

"If you make a mistake and create another war against the oppressed 
Lebanese nation, this time the angry ocean of the nations of the region 
will remove your rotten ... roots from the region," the president said 
in another speech on Sunday night.

Ahmadinejad's speeches were made ahead of ahead of Monday's anniversary 
of the death in 1989 of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the 
Islamic Republic, whose words Ahmadinejad echoed when he called for 
Israel to be "wiped off the map".

The president's comments caused consternation in Israel and the West, 
which also fear Iran is seeking to build an atomic arsenal under cover 
of a civilian nuclear power programme, a charge Tehran denies.

Although Ahmadinejad has said Iran is not a threat to Israel, Iranian 
officials have said Tehran would respond swiftly to any Israeli attack. 
Some analysts have speculated Israel could seek to knock out Iran's 
atomic sites.

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