Monday at the United Nations (U.N.) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a nuclear-armed “fake regime” shielded by the United States. Ahmadinejad’s rant against his perceived enemies while his country moves inexorably towards a showdown with the Jewish State, demonstrates that nothing short of a show of force will likely deter full conflict in the Persian Gulf.
Ahmadinejad accused the U.S. and others of misusing freedom of speech and failing to speak out against the defamation of people’s beliefs and “divine prophets,” in an obvious reference to the video blamed on recent unrest in the Middle East.
Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel’s destruction, used his speech at the U.N. to condemn Israel’s occupation of so-called Palestinian territory and U.S. vetoes in the U.N. Security Council. The Iranian President urged all nations to “hold occupiers accountable and make efforts to return the occupied territories to their rightful owners.”
Ahmadinejad blamed the “discriminatory” power of the veto granted to the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France as the cause of the Security Council’s failure to ensure peace in the world; he called upon the council to change the rules “in favor of nations with due regard to justice.”
As Ahmadinejad was speaking, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor walked out of the General Assembly hall.
“Ahmadinejad showed again that he not only threatens the future of the Jewish people, he seeks to erase our past,” Prosor said in a statement.
“Three thousand years of Jewish history illustrate the clear danger of ignoring fanatics like Iran’s President, especially as he inches closer to acquiring nuclear weapons,” he said. “Those who ignore his hateful words today will bear responsibility for his deeds tomorrow.”
While Ahmadinejad insists Iran’s nuclear program is purely peaceful, information gathered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made it clear that what the Iranian’s are developing has more to do with warheads than light bulbs.
Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes Tehran is moving closer to producing a nuclear weapon and has been pushing the United States to set “red lines” which, if crossed, might lead to American military action. President Barack Obama has refused to set any “red lines.”
Startlingly as Ahmadinejad spoke Monday the U.S. delegation remained seated where in the past the U.S. had walked out when Iran attacked Israel. The clear change in posture by the U.S. delegation appears to be one more sign of the strain in relations between the U.S. and Israel. The failure of the U.S. to stand behind Israel the same week President Obama rebuffed Netanyahu’s requests for a meeting signals a further deterioration of the relationship.
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