Leaders from all across the world responded harshly Thursday to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to "wipe Israel off the map".
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Photo: AP , AP
Ahmadinejad also directed his wrath at countries like Egypt and Jordan which have formal relations with Israel, and other Islamic countries moving toward accommodation.
"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury," he said at a "World without Zionism" conference.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon instructed Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman to take action in order to remove Iran from the international organization. Sharon was prompted into action by Vice Premier Shimon Peres, who sent a missive in which he wrote, "It is inconceivable that the head of a nation that is a member at the UN would call for genocide. His call stands against the UN charter and constitutes a crime against humanity."
Peres, who addressed his remarks to Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, said that the severity of Ahmadinejad's comments only underline the danger in light of Iran's attempts to develop nuclear weapons and acquire long range missiles.
Reacting to the Iranian president's speech, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Ahmadinejad and Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar "speak openly about destroying the Jewish state ... and it appears the problem with these extremists is that they followed through on their violent declarations with violent actions."
Ebrahim Yazdi, a former Iranian foreign minister, said Ahmadinejad's remarks harmed Iran. "Such comments provoke the international community against us. It's not to Iran's interests at all. It's harmful to Iran to make such a statement," he said.
* Readers' talkbacks appear at the end of the article
Although Arab governments maintained silence Thursday over the call by Iran's new president for Israel to be "wiped off the map," but analysts said Tehran's Arab rivals may quietly be pleased to see the radical regime further isolated by its extremism.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry and Cabinet officials said Cairo would have nothing to say on the address.
Egyptian government officials played down the importance of the speech, saying it was intended for a conservative Iranian audience who remained faithful to the thinking behind the 1979 revolution.
With so many conflicts in the Middle East, "the region is in a mess. We really don't need one more," said one official on condition of anonymity, hoping the issue would go away.
Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher also declined comment, apparently to avoid further aggravating relations with Iran, which the kingdom has accused of interfering in Iraq to strengthen the Shi'ite influence in the Middle East.
Analysts said Amadinejad's uncompromising line highlighted Iran's differences with other Middle East governments and will make it easier for the international community to take a tough line against Iran for its defiant nuclear policy.
Mohamed Wahby, a former diplomat and member of the Egyptian Council on Foreign Affairs, said it was a mistake to remain quiet about the speech, which he said undermined Mideast peace prospects.
"Recognizing Israel as an integral part of the Middle East is no longer in doubt," he said, saying Iran was only encouraging hard-liners on both sides.
Mustafa Hamarneh, head of the Strategic Studies Center at the University of Jordan, agreed that Amadinejad was out of step, especially with the Palestinians. "He's an ideologue who shot from the cuff; it was not a studied statement," Hamarneh said.
Iran's threatening stance also was counterproductive to its own interests, said Wahby, reinforcing the notion that its nuclear program is aimed at developing weapons despite claims that it is meant exclusively for peaceful power generation.
"Such statement by Tehran will encourage Israel to cling to its nuclear arsenal," Wahby said.
In Iran, most newspapers carried coverage of Ahmadinejad's statement, and some ran stories covering the subsequent protests from other countries. Officials could not be reached for comment.
But hundreds of thousands of Iranians are expected to denounce Israel and back Ahmadinejad's comments across the country Friday during the annual al-Quds - Jerusalem - Day protests.
Mustafa Alani, an analyst from the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, said Arab states will see Ahmadinejad's speech as showing up the Iranian regime to be "illogical, irrational."
"The Arab countries have benefited," Alani said. "They will never issue a statement, but they are happy that he proved the Iranians, on the regional level, are not rational."
In addition, several world governments issued statements criticizing the Iranian's remarks, including the US, Britain, France, Spain, Canada, Italy and Germany.
Both the United Kingdom and Germany summoned on Thursday representatives of the Iranian Embassy to underline their countries' opposition to the Iranian president's remarks.
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer had also asked Germany's Embassy in Iran for a report on the situation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Elmar Eich said.
The latest nation to join the international chorus blasting Ahmadinejad's rhetoric, Italy on Thursday echoed earlier statements by its ally in Iraq, the US, saying the remarks confirm concerns over Tehran's nuclear program.
The Italian Foreign Ministry "has expressed discomfort and concern to the Iranian ambassador in Rome," a ministry statement said. A ministry official said the ambassador had not been summoned.
"The contents and tone of such unacceptable statements confirm worries over the political positions pursued by the new Iranian leadership, especially concerning the nuclear dossier," the statement said.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said he believed that Ahmadinejad's words speak for themselves, "highlighting our concerns of an Iranian nuclear capability."
