Israel has drawn fire from Iran for alleged threats of a nuclear strike. Tehran told the UN Security Council that recent comments by the Israeli Defense Minister bore reference to “what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
Gholam Ali Khoshrou, Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations,
urged the UNSC to condemn the "irresponsible remarks"
made by the Moshe Ya'alon earlier this month in Jerusalem.
"Ya'alon's recent remarks and the Zionist official's implied
reference to the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the
Islamic Republic like what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and
also his threats against the Lebanese civilians, including the
women and children, shows more than ever the regime's aggressive
nature," Khoshrou stated in a letter to UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon and Lithuanian Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite.
According to Khoshrou, the Israeli minister's "impudent
remarks have challenged the primary principles ruling the armed
conflicts and the international humanitarian rights and weaken
the international peace and security," the semi-official
Fars news agency reported.
The Iranian ambassador has called on the UNSC to censure the
“clear threats of using nuclear bomb and massacre of
civilians."
The Israeli defense minister made his comments when answering a
question “whether dealing with a threat like Iran is
something democracies are not structured well to do.”
Ya'alon told the conference, hosted by the Shurat HaDin Israel
Law Center, “Those who claim that this battle is not fair
because democracy can't fight back [at a] tyrannical regime — not
talking about terror organizations – I don't agree with it.”
The minister has further stated that “in certain cases we
might take certain steps that we believe…should be taken in order
to defend ourselves.
He acknowledged that he was reminded of the US President Harry
Truman, who “was asked, ‘How do you feel after deciding to
launch the nuclear bombs, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, causing at the
end the fatalities of 200,000, casualties?’ And he said, ‘When I
heard from my officers that the alternative is a long war with
Japan, with potential fatalities of a couple of millions, I
thought it is a moral decision.’”
“We are not there yet,” Ya’alon said.
READ MORE: Iran insists Israel ‘give up the bomb’
as Tehran seeks nuclear-free Middle East
Although Israel has never publicly admitted to having a nuclear
arsenal, maintaining the so-called policy of ‘nuclear ambiguity’
regarding its alleged stocks of nuclear weapons, it is widely
believed to be the only power in the region to possess the atomic
bomb.
Meanwhile, a top military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday that should Israel
attack the Islamic Republic "over 80,000 [Iranian] missiles
are ready to rain down on Tel Aviv and Haifa."
"The Zionists and the US are aware of the power of Iran and
Hezbollah," Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi stated,
referring to Ya'alon's comments, adding that “Iran is a
powerful country which will give a crushing response to them."
The top military advisor said that similar remarks made by the US
and Israeli officials are only meant to serve as a ploy, Fars reported.
"We have displayed part of our military capabilities while we
have kept many of our achievements and capabilities hidden to
outsiders; our response will be crushing not just to the Zionist
regime, but to any other aggressor who intends to take action
against us," he hit back.
READ MORE: Tehran and world powers reach
solutions on Iran nuclear program
Last month Iran and international powers reached “solutions
on key parameters” of Tehran’s controversial nuclear
program. During the media conference in Switzerland, EU foreign
policy chief Federica Mogherini said the deal created the basis
of a future comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and six
powers to be concluded by a June 30 deadline.
The group of countries known as ‘P5+1’ (the US, Russia, China,
Britain, France and Germany) have been trying hammer out an
accord with Iran to restrict the country’s nuclear program in
return for a lifting the economic blockade imposed by the UN for
nearly 18 months.
READ MORE: House adopts bill to give Congress Iran nuclear agreement review
The agreement envisages the Fordow facility being converted into
a nuclear physics center with no fissile material. It was agreed
that the Natantz facility would remain as the only uranium
enrichment complex in the country. Under the deal Tehran was
obliged to refrain from creating nuclear weapons. The US and EU
are to lift Iran all nuclear-related economic and financial
sanctions after the signing of the deal, on June 30, and after
IAEA verification.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov, the deal
could help the security situation in the Middle East, with Tehran
taking a more active part in attempts to solve conflicts in the
region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fiercely opposed a
nuclear Tehran, however, by attempting to coerce Washington into
impeding the diplomatic solution offered by the P5+1
negotiations.
Following his visit to Washington in March, 47 Republican
senators signed a letter written by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton,
which threatened to pull any nuclear deal reached with Iran, once
President Barack Obama leaves office. Earlier this month the
House of Representatives has passed a compromise bill that will
give Congress review powers over the Iran nuclear deal, within
limits agreed to by the White House, however.