'Israelis dream of friendly, sane Iran'

Foreign Ministry responds to Iranian threat to hit back if Israel attacks in way that would prevent sleep.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani (photo credit: AP)
Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani
(photo credit: AP)
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor responded on Tuesday to Iranian warnings against Israel attacking the Islamic state's nuclear facilities, which included a threat of an Iranian respond that will prevent Israelis from sleeping easy, saying Israelis sleep well "and in our dreams Iran is a friendly country engaged in a constructive relationship with the international community and is not the lunatic and dangerous regime it is now." Earlier on Tuesday, a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raised tensions between the two foes by calling Israel the "most cruel and repressive racist regime" and called for its eradication at a UN conference in Geneva, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said if Israel attacked, "Iran will respond in a way that they will not be able to sleep easy anymore." He made the remark at a meeting in Tehran of top prosecutors from Islamic countries, who are trying to find ways to arrange for the arrest and prosecution of Israeli leaders on war crimes charges over the Gaza assault earlier this year. The comments came after Ahmadinejad's speech to a UN racism conference that prompted European diplomats to walk out and drew sharp criticism from Israel. Ahmadinejad has previously suggested the Holocaust never happened and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." The United Nations said Tuesday that Ahmadinejad had dropped a reference to Holocaust denial from his speech at the conference. Israel believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons that could pose a threat to its existence. Oil-rich Iran denies that and says its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes such as generating electricity. Israel has threatened military action, but last week President Shimon Peres dismissed the idea that the country was planning an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Iran has repeatedly said it would strike back after any attack. Earlier this month, Israel's Defense Ministry said the country had successfully tested an anti-missile system designed to protect the country against Iranian attack. Obama administration overtures to open a dialogue with Iran after decades of diplomatic stalemate are also making Israel nervous.