"Death to Israel", Again

In an earlier posting, I pointed out how many of Iran's apologists have tried to claim that Iranian President Ahmadinejad never really threatened Israel, but instead was only pushing for a peaceful "regime change". Unfortunately for them, we have eyewitness accounts and video of Ahmadinejad's "Death to Israel" rallies, which is hard to translate into any "peaceful" meaning.

Now we have some quotes from a speech he gave today, on the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeni's death:

Ahmadinejad said last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah showed for the first time that the "hegemony of the occupier regime (Israel) had collapsed, and the Lebanese nation pushed the button to begin counting the days until the destruction of the Zionist regime," IRNA quoted him as saying.

"God willing, in the near future we will witness the destruction of the corrupt occupier regime".

It's very hard to take this statement in any way other than a military threat, since he is strongly implying that Israel would be destroyed in a future war with Hezbollah, and Hezbollah is armed, financed, and trained by Iran.

If anyone has any other credible interpretations of Iran's intent, I would love to hear them.

Additionally, in another story largely ignored by the media, just four days ago Turkish officials seized a shipment of weapons headed for Hezbollah fighters in Syria:

Earlier Wednesday, a government official said the cargo included machine guns and pistols. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The private Dogan news agency said the cargo included a rocket launch pad and 300 rockets, as well as other weapons and ammunition.

Not surprisingly, Iran denies it:

The Iranian Embassy issued a statement Wednesday denying that the weapons belonged to Iran, and said the allegations were being made "by circles" aiming to disrupt Turkey's close relations with Iran.

What "circles"?

Interesting perspective: Youssef Ibrahim, a writer for the New York Sun, says that rather than being coy, Israel should make some threatening gestures of their own, and Iran would back down. I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but its worth considering.

Finally, a graphic illustration of Iran's intentions here.





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