NEW YORK – Israel has “no roots” in the history of the Middle East and represents a disturbance for Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday.
Ahmadinejad said Iran has been around for thousands of years, but Israel has existed for only 60 or 70 years. He said that for a certain “historical phase” Israel represents a disturbance for Iran and “they are then eliminated.”
Ahmadinejad also asserted that Iran does not take seriously Israeli threats of attack, but is prepared to defend itself.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has hinted that Israel could strike Iran’s nuclear sites and has criticized US President Barack Obama’s position that sanctions and diplomacy should be given more time to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
Iran denies that it is seeking nuclear arms and says its atomic work is peaceful, aimed at generating electricity.
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a brigadier general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was quoted as saying on Sunday that Iran could launch a pre-emptive strike on Israel if it was sure the Jewish state was preparing to attack it.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Ahmadinejad of the dangers of incendiary rhetoric when two men met in New York on Sunday before this week’s annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly.
In previous years, Ahmadinejad has used his UN speeches to defend Iran’s nuclear program and to attack Israel, the United States and Europe. He has questioned the Holocaust and cast doubt on whether 19 hijackers were really responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.
Western envoys predictably walk out of Ahmadinejad’s speeches in protest.
There will be high-level side meetings on Iran’s nuclear program and Syria during the General Assembly, but UN diplomats do not expect either issue to be resolved soon.
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