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For the first time in many years, we find ourselves on the same side in seeking to quell and defeat the forces of extremism and destruction in our region. While many see the threat from Iran directed solely at Israel, we in the region know differently. Together, we understand the menace that emanates from the extremist regime in Tehran. A regime that seeks to export its extremist ideology across the region and beyond, while arming terrorist groups that seek to destabilize moderate Sunni regimes and aiming for hegemonic control of the Middle East and far beyond. The Iranian regime has many tentacles spread out across the region sowing destruction and despair amongst the people. The enemy of the people of Lebanon is not Israel, but Hizbullah. The enemy of the Palestinian people is not Israel, but Hamas. The enemy of the Egyptian people is not Israel, but militant Islamist opposition groups. All of these groups, and many others, receive their commands from Iran, who wish to control and suppress any aspirations the region has towards freedom and advancement. Iran seeks to hold an entire region, including its own people, to ransom and keep it engaged in conflicts orchestrated and directed from Tehran. Whether it is in Morocco, Iraq or Yemen, Iran is constantly interfering with Arab sovereignty for their own nefarious gain. Israel and its Sunni neighbors alike are in the sights of Khameini, Ahmadinejad and their minions. If Iran is able to attain nuclear weapons, the situation becomes inexplicably and inexorably worse. The Iranian regime has demonstrated that if feels unrestricted in its ability to dominate our region, a nuclear umbrella will only embolden its acolytes to act unrestrained to the detriment of us all. Only together can we face this threat and remove it. FM Liberman interview on Reka Radio (11 Dec 2009): We cannot ignore Iran’s devil-may-care attitude toward international opinion. The solution will be implemented, irrespective of Israel's fears or Israel's attitude towards Iran. I think that countries in the "five plus one" format (i.e., five permanent UN members plus Germany) cannot afford to be ignored. In recent months there have been changes in Russia. In Italy, we heard President Medvedev speak during his meeting with Berlusconi. Medvedev repeated that Russia would be ready to take sanctions against Iran, if Iran refuses to accept suggestions that were formulated during the Geneva talks. What would the result of these sanctions be? The atmosphere in Iran is not quiet and not stable. Recently we've seen repeated protests and rallies. Sanctions of this kind can obviously accelerate the process of the internal change-over in Iran. Now, the dissatisfaction with Ahmadinejad's regime has reached its peak. We've seen it now and we saw it after the elections. One more push is needed, that will provide the right impetus. I think that such sanctions will produce a social shock, which will prevent warfare. The Ayatollah's regime will simply crash, and normal and sane political leaders will replace that. FM Liberman interview on Israel Radio (2 Dec 2009): I think that today there is a clear understanding in Russia about Iranian policy, as Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov told me at our meeting yesterday. But besides that, what we see in Russia is that they are once again disappointed by the Iranian position, and they are not hiding their pessimism about the possibility of reaching some kind of arrangement with Iran. We see that the Russians are aligning themselves with the position of the United States and the European countries regarding sanctions. The format of 5+1 represents a uniform stance and we also saw President Obama and President Medvedev at their joint appearance, having the exact same position regarding engagement with the Iranians. Also on the subject of the Russian missiles, they are delaying them and not supplying the missiles, as we understand from the Iranian announcements. They did not supply the missiles to the Iranians and today the Russian position is much closer to that of the United States than ever before, at least since I have been dealing with the issue of Iran. I did not hear anything concrete from the Russians regarding sanctions against Iran, but we heard disappointment and a fair amount of pessimism. It is clear that the decision will be made in the next two weeks at the meeting of the 5+1 - the five permanent Security Council countries plus Germany. This is disturbing to everyone; I wish to reemphasize that everyone was talking about Iran at all the meetings with leaders of all the countries. I think there is awareness not just in the European countries, but among all who attended the OSCE conference in Athens, and there were also many Asian countries there, and the United States and Canada. Absolutely everyone is concerned and aware of the dangers of the Iranian issue; everyone is waiting for the international community's response, for it to adopt an uncompromising position. Ahmadinejad's speech yesterday was considered a kind of slap in the face to the entire international community, and it will be very interesting to see what the reaction will be. Interview with President Peres on BBC "Hard Talk" in Persian (1 Dec 2009): Correspondent: I would like to move on to the Iranian nuclear issue. You say, and many Israeli statesmen say, repeatedly, that the Iranian nuclear program is a threat to the world. Iran and many others in the region have the same sentiments about the Israeli nuclear capability. Would you be prepared to commit Israel to a nuclear-free Middle East? Pres. Peres: It should be free from threat and free from war, and then it can be free from nuclear capacities too. But the problem with Iran is not just its nuclear capacity. It is the only member of the United Nations that openly threatened to destroy another member of the United Nations, Israel. It is against the charter and it is against peace. The issue is this combination of nuclear weapons, terroristic activity, support of terroristic activities elsewhere, supply of arms, and the threat to destroy another country. Do you know any country that Israel threatens to destroy or to harm? We don't consider anybody as our enemy. Iran is not our enemy. Islam is not our enemy. The enemies are only the violent, extremist, fanatic people like Ahmadinejad. What sort of person is he that he denies the Holocaust? Does he know? Has he been there? It is totally irresponsible, aggressive, unthinking. It is a shame. And I am sure many Iranian people are ashamed of this combination of the denial of the Holocaust, the call to destroy a country, the supply of arms to Hamas and the supply of arms to Hizbullah. It's a combination. So it's not enriched uranium - it is enriched violence. And also, one watches the situation in Iran itself - the discrimination of women, the unemployment. We know Iran as a culture. Persia is a story in history. Look at what he did to it. He put a great culture to shame. He converted Iran into a worry instead of a model. Even the government admitted that there were 15 million people in Iran who voted against this terrible system. So the problem is not Iran, even not just the nuclear attempt, but the overall picture of violence, of extremism, of hatred, of threats. They cannot be separated. Correspondent: Mr. President, many of the issues that you touched upon about Iran, are of course domestic issues of Iran, but in terms of regional issues, if we look at Iran's record, Iran has not invaded or attacked any of its neighbors in the past 200 years. Now if we remove the rhetoric, and I am not trying to defend the rhetoric at all, but if the rhetoric is removed do you still think that Iran should be a priority as a security concern for the world? Pres. Peres: Not Iran, Ahmadinejad. There were different governments during the 200 years. We are not fighting the Iranian people, we are fighting a most unusual phenomena. You won't find any other system, and a leader who is so outspokenly negative, insulting and inconsiderate in the world. And it's not only us; most of the Arab world is concerned about it. It is not a matter of 200 years: It is 10 years, 15 years, that's it. And I am sure that the Iranian people will judge him. And I agree that this is a decision for the Iranian people to make. Why waste energy on hatred? Why waste resources in vain? Let's invest it in the future of our children, not in the future of missiles or of enriched uranium. They don't have a future. The world will not have a single solution that results from a nuclear option. Israel Amb Shalev to the UN General Assembly (1 Dec 2009): We must also confront the most dangerous threat to peace in our region, namely Iran. Iran continues to export violence, hatred, and terrorism to our region and beyond; the 360 tons of weapons aboard the Francop are merely a drop in the ocean. Iran funds, trains, and supports global terrorism, including Hamas' and Hizbullah's relentless attacks against Israeli men, women and children. Iran must be stopped. | |||||||||||
Friday, December 25, 2009
An Informative Letter
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