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TEHRAN, December 18 - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has blasted the hawkish Israeli premier for openly boasting of the regime’s “offensive missiles,” saying such a warmonger is in no position to voice “concerns” about Tehran’s defensive missile program.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Zarif was reacting Tuesday to Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments, who said a day earlier that the regime was developing missiles capable of hitting any target in the Middle East region.
Netanyahu also said the regime was working on weapons systems with “special capabilities that no other country has,” adding, “This is the offensive power of Israel which is very important for us in all sectors.”
In his tweet, Zarif wrote, “First, Netanyahu stands next to nuclear BOMB factory and threatens Iran with annihilation. Now, he openly boasts about his “OFFENSIVE" missiles that can reach anywhere.”
The minister has in fact made a reference to Netanyahu’s visit in August to the regime secretive Dimona nuclear weapons facility, from where he threatened Iran with a nuclear attack.
That threat drew strong criticisms from Tehran, which wrote to the United Nations, calling on the world body to condemn Israel and bring the regime’s atomic weapons program under its supervision.
Netanyahu’s latest comments come days after the hawkish prime minister said Israel was prepared to launch attacks inside Iran if its survival was at stake.
The Iranian foreign minister further pointed to the hype created by the Western states over Tehran’s latest test of a conventional ballistic missile and said the Israeli premier “whines about Iran’s Deterrent and DEFENSIVE missiles, and the West parrots his “concerns.””
Last week, the Security Council met at the request of France and Britain days after Iran tested a conventional ballistic missile. At the meeting, Israel’s European allies and the US voiced “concerns” about Iran’s national missile program.
The US even went as far as claiming that Iran’s test was in defiance of UN Resolution 2231, which endorsed a 2015 multilateral deal on Tehran’s nuclear program, without offering any evidence.
Since its creation in 1948 on occupied Palestinian land, the Israeli regime has waged numerous wars in the Middle East, the latest of which killed around 2,200 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip in 2014.
The regime has in recent months stepped up threats of a new war against Lebanon. It also carries out airstrikes against Syrian soil from time to time in support of the Takfiri terror groups fighting the Damascus government.
Unlike Iran, the regime is not a member of the NPT -- whose aim is to prevent the spread of nuclear arms and weapons technology – in defiance of international pressure.
Israel is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, and is estimated to have up to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.
Besides premiership, Netanyahu also serves as Israel’s minister of military affairs following the November 14 resignation of Avigdor Lieberman.
Lieberman stepped down from his post after Netanyahu bypassed him and accepted a ceasefire with Gaza-based resistance factions. Analysts described the developments as a sign of Israel’s defeat both on the battlefield and the diplomatic front.
Lieberman’s party quit the right-wing coalition government and its five MPs withdrew their support.
The loss of Lieberman’s five parliamentary seats destabilized Netanyahu’s majority coalition, forcing the premier to take over the empty office himself to avoid early elections.
Despite protests from opposition lawmakers, the parliament on Monday confirmed Netanyahu as the permanent minister of military affairs.
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni described the appointment “scary,” saying Netanyahu’s “political weakness” could bring “anything but security.”
Source: Presstv
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