Iran: We'll cut off Israel's legs
By JPOST.COM STAFF ANDF AP
30/04/2010 20:09
Vice president vows to stand by Damascus if Israel attacks.
Iran on Friday threatened to "cut off Israel's feet" if the latter attacks Syria, AFP reported.
During a visit to Damascus, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said: "We will stand alongside Syria against any threat … If those who have violated Palestinian land want to try anything we will cut off their feet," he said.
Rahimi called Syria a "strong country that is ready to confront any threat" and said Iran "will back Syria with all its means and strength."
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US warns Iran, Syria on threats
The Obama administration Thursday warned Iran and Syria that America's commitment to Israel's security is unshakable, and they should understand the consequences of threats to the Jewish state.
In a speech, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Syrian transfers of increasingly sophisticated weaponry, including rockets, to terrorists in southern Lebanon and Gaza could spark new conflict in the Middle East. Additionally, she said a nuclear-armed Iran would profoundly destabilize the region.
"These threats to Israel's security are real, they are growing and they must be addressed," she said in the speech to the American Jewish Committee. The speech was the administration's latest effort to reassure Israel that its ties to the United States remain strong despite tensions that flared last month.
"President Obama noted recently that there has been some of what he called 'noise and distortion' about this administration's approach in the Middle East," Clinton said. "Over the past month, we have attempted to remove any ambiguity. The president and this administration have repeatedly reaffirmed our commitment to Israel's security in word and in deed."
Clinton told the group that Israel is "confronting some of the toughest challenges in her history," particularly from Iran, Syria and groups they support like Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and reaffirmed US determination to get them to change course.
"Transferring weapons to these terrorists, especially longer-range missiles, would pose a serious threat to the security of Israel," she said.
Israel has accused Syria of providing Hizbullah with Scud missiles, which would dramatically increase the group's ability to strike targets in Israel. Syria has denied the charges.
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Iran: We Also Worry About Nuclear Weapons in the Wrong Hands
Iranian leaders announced this week that they, too, are concerned over the possibility of nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists. "We are also worried about the access of terrorist groups to nuclear weapons," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said, according to Iran's Fars news agency.
Mehman-Parast added that all nations should worry about terrorist access to nuclear arms.
However, he said, every country should be allowed to use nuclear energy. "Nuclear energy for all, nuclear weapons for none," should be the world's motto, he declared.
He expressed concern not only about terrorists, but about Western powers with nuclear weapons. He criticized the United States in particular, accusing the US of failing to disarm and of threatening nuclear attacks on other nations.
US President Barack Obama recently said America would commit not to use nuclear weapons against countries that do not have nuclear weapons, even in the case of an attack with unconventional arms. However, he excluded Iran from the list of countries without nuclear weapons, as Iranian leaders have refused to grant full access to their nuclear facilities. That angered Iranian leaders, who said Obama's statement was a threat to bomb their country.
Iranian leaders insist that they are seeking nuclear technology for the sole purpose of producing energy. However, they have refused to allow full international supervision of their facilities, and have recently conducted tests on long-range missiles that could reach Europe or Israel. In addition, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made repeated public threats to wipe Israel "off the map." (for op ed on the Iran threat to Israel, click here.)
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
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Abdullah: Israel playing with fire
By JPOST.COM STAFF
30/04/2010 13:53
Jordanian monarch reiterates warning over J'lem, W. Bank policies.
Jordan's King Abdullah on Thursday reiterated his warning to Israel over its policies in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
"Israel is playing with fire concerning Jerusalem and it must stop all unilateral moves in the occupied territories," said the Jordanian monarch.
In a meeting with journalists in Jordan, Abdullah added that the onus was on Israel when it came to making peace with the Arab and Muslim world.
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"Israel has to choose between life behind walls, and living in peace with all Arab and Muslim countries on the basis of the Arab peace initiative," he said. "This can be achieved by withdrawals from occupied Arab land and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state."
It echoes comments made by Abdullah last Thursday in a public rebuke of Israel, and follows fierce condemnations over east Jerusalem construction and Israeli security operations on the Temple Mount.
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'US may stop using UN veto on resolutions targeting Israel'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
30/04/2010 11:26
'Guardian' says US official assured Abbas Washington could consider move; State Department denies reports.
In an attempt to launch indirect proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the US has given private assurances that it would consider not using its veto power against UN Security Council condemnations of any significant new settlement activity, the Guardian reported.
A Palestinian source quoted by the UK paper said David Hale, a deputy of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week that if there was "significantly provocative settlement activity," including in east Jerusalem, Washington may consider allowing UNSC resolutions censuring Israel to pass. According to the paper, the source said "it was understood that meant the US would abstain from voting on a resolution rather than use its veto."
State Department officials, however, denied a similar report in The New York Times this week.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat also said such assurances were not given. "It's not true," he said, according to the Guardian. "We are still talking to the Americans."
Meanwhile, in an interview with the Chinese Xinhua news agency on Wednesday, Abbas claimed the US had vowed to stop "any provocative activities" by Israel in a bid to resume Middle East peace talks.
Abbas said when "the credibility of the US pledges are demonstrated," the negotiations "would restart immediately."
The PA president criticized Washington for "not exerting enough effort to press Israel to achieve peace," but reiterated his opposition to a unilateral declaration of statehood.
"We want our state to be declared under an international agreement," he said. "If this doesn't happen, the Arabs will go to the UN Security Council to get the recognition of the Palestinian statehood," the PA president told Xinhua.
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Reports: Obama preparing to force Israel's hand
Israeli officials told Ha'aretz on Thursday that US President Barack Obama recently assured European leaders that if the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is not moving forward by September or October, he will convene an international peace summit.
The purpose of convening an international peace summit could only be to impose a peace settlement on the two sides, and if Obama's policies of late are anything to judge by, that peace settlement would greatly favor the Arabs by incorporating nearly all their demands.
Palestinian officials this week also said they had received assurances from US Middle East envoy George Mitchell that if Israel did not start complying with US-backed Arab demands soon, Obama would act to force Jerusalem's hand.
The Palestinians are also threatening to unilaterally declare independence by October if Israel does not start meeting their demands. Israeli officials fear the UN would recognize such a declaration, and that the Obama Administration would do little or nothing to block it.
Recent history has demonstrated that such reports, which are often leaked as a pressure tactic against Israel, actually further delay peace negotiations as the Palestinians are all too happy to remain defiant and wait on the international community to strong-arm Israel.
The US and Europe remain mum on the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said he is ready to immediately restart direct bilateral negotiations, while the Palestinians refuse to sit with the Israelis and discuss anything.
