. | . |
Israel's Peres says Ahmadinejad 'taking world for a fool' Jerusalem (AFP) Sept 25, 2008 Israeli President Shimon Peres sharpened his attack on Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday, accusing him of "taking the world for a fool" in his statements to the UN General Assembly. "(Ahmadinejad) has committed a fatal error, and is taking the world for a fool. He thinks he is an absolute prophet, proclaiming that there is no more hope for the United States or Israel," Peres told Israeli public radio. "It is shameful to Islam, to all religions, to the United States, and to democracy. His voice does not come from heaven but hell and one day it will pass away like a breeze," he said in the interview conducted in New York. Israel has long considered Iran its greatest threat, both because of Tehran's accelerating nuclear programme and repeated statements by its leaders predicting the demise of the Jewish state. In a blistering speech before the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Peres said Iran was "at the centre of violence and fanaticism" and had "built a danger to the entire world." Israel and the United States accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, while Tehran has insisted its programme is entirely peaceful and vowed to proceed despite three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions. Israel is the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear armed state with an estimated arsenal of 200 warheads. Neither the United States nor Israel has ruled out a military response to the Iranian nuclear standoff, and on Thursday Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak said all options remain on the table. "Iran continues to exert every effort in its activities to achieve a nuclear weapons capability," he said in a statement. "For now there is still time for addressing the issue diplomatically, but we believe we must not renounce any option and we do not think anyone else in the world should either," he added. In his own address to the assembly on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad lashed out at what he called international "bullying" and vowed to press ahead with Iran's nuclear drive. As for Israel, he said "the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
France still wants six powers to meet on Iran Paris (AFP) Sept 24, 2008 France still hopes the six world powers leading an international response to Iran's nuclear programme will meet this week, despite Russian reluctance, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |