TruthNews

Iranian Defense Official Warns Israel Will Be "Eliminated"

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, 15 Apr 2008

Iran’s Deputy Chief of Staff Mohammad Reza Ashtiani threatened on Tuesday that if Israel attacks Iran, then the Jewish State will be "eliminated."

The warning comes after veteran Israeli cabinet minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer made threatening remarks to Iran last week. Ben-Eliezer insisted that "Iran will be wiped off the face of the earth if it dares to fire any missile at us."

The ensuing silence of other ministers in the Olmert government was taken as an endorsement of his sharp retort, and when asked this week if he was sorry for his remarks, Ben-Eliezer stood by them.

"I do not regret the threats I directed at Iran and its leaders. I am sick of receiving threats to Israel's existence on a daily basis," said Ben-Eliezer, a former IDF general and long-time Labor party MK.

"We are not worried by the recent Israeli maneuvers... If Israel wants to take any action against the Islamic republic, we will eliminate Israel from the scene of the universe," Ashtiani said in response.

In the meantime, Iran's ambassador to the UN, Muhammad Khazei, filed a complaint with Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, writing in a letter that, "The Israel regime continues to make impudent threats against Iran... which blatantly violated international law and the UN Charter, threatened the Iranian nation with destruction." His letter went on to say the "shameless remarks" were "unprovoked."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian leaders have made repeated threats over recent years to "wipe Israel off the map," among other hostile and genocidal remarks. Until Ben-Eliezer's remarks, however, Israeli leaders have been very measured in their response, calling the growing Iranian nuclear threat a "world problem."