Israel will be eliminated says Ahmadinejad
New York, September 24, 2012
Iran does not take seriously Israeli threats of attack, but is prepared to defend itself, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday, while saying that Israel has "no roots" in the history of the Middle East and would be "eliminated."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted Israel could strike Iran's nuclear sites and has criticized US President Barack Obama's position that sanctions and diplomacy should be given more time to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran denies that it is seeking nuclear arms and says its atomic work is peaceful, aimed at generating electricity.
"Fundamentally we do not take seriously the threats of the Zionists. ... We have all the defensive means at our disposal and we are ready to defend ourselves," Ahmadinejad told reporters in New York, before addressed the UN General Assembly.
"While we are fully ready to defend ourselves, we do not take such threats seriously," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
Ahmadinejad alluded to his previous rejection of Israel's right to exist. "Iran has been around for the last seven, 10 thousand years. They (the Israelis) have been occupying those territories for the last 60 to 70 years, with the support and force of the Westerners. They have no roots there in history," he said.
The modern state of Israel was founded in 1948.
"We do believe that they have found themselves at a dead end and they are seeking new adventures in order to escape this dead end. Iran will not be damaged with foreign bombs," Ahmadinejad said, referring to Israel.
"We don't even count them as any part of any equation for Iran. During a historical phase, they represent minimal disturbances that come into the picture and are then eliminated," Ahmadinejad added.
ANTI-AIRCRAFT SYSTEM
Meanwhile, Iran successfully test-fired a domestically made anti-aircraft system, the country's English-language Press TV reported on Monday.
"The mid-range system ... is capable of intercepting targets at a range of 50 km (30 miles) and can fly at an altitude of 75,000 feet," the report on Press TV's website said.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said at a military parade displaying the weapons last Friday that: "The system has been manufactured with the aim of confronting (hostile) US aircraft."
"The Ra'd air defence system is the first completely indigenous system of the Sepah (Revolutionary Guards), which has been designed and manufactured by committed Iranian technicians in the struggle for self-sufficiency," Hajizadeh was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency. -Reuters
