Iran’s supreme authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told a visiting Palestinian militant leader that “Israel will not exist in 25 years.” Khamenei made the remarks to Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. According to Khamenei, in referring to Israel, the “Zionist regime will cease to exist if there is a collective and united fight by the Palestinian and the Muslims against the Zionists.
Khamenei’s genocidal comments on Israel came shortly after the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Iranians to stop threatening Israel’s existence. While on a visit to Kazakhstan, Netanyahu reminded the Iranian leaders that Israel is not a “rabbit” but a “tiger” and Iran will regret it should it take any provocative steps against the Jewish state.
Comment:
The Islamic Republic of Iran, a reactionary and expansionist power, has since 1979 continuously threatened the destruction of Israel. Ayatollah Khamenei made his comments to the leader of PIJ, a Palestinian extremist organization that has rejected any peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and continues to mount terrorist attacks against Israelis. The invitation to Shalah, as well as Kamenei’s remarks, demonstrates that the Iranians have no intention of changing their threatening attitude toward Israel despite their efforts to project a more moderate face to the world since signing the nuclear deal.
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