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Last update - 23:45 18/02/2008
Foreign Ministry said to slam Iranian anti-Israel jibe in missive to UN
By Yoav Stern and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
Tags: Lebanon, Israel, Hezbollah 

Israel has decided to send a letter of protest to the United Nations Security Council, after the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Monday that Israel was a "cancerous germ" that would soon be destroyed by the "hands of Hezbollah," Army Radio reported.

Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted by the Fars News Agency as saying: "In the near future, we will witness the destruction of the cancerous germ of Israel by the powerful and competent hands of the Hezbollah combatants."

The Foreign Ministry has instructed Israel's delegation to the UN to write a missive saying that the comments call for the destruction of Israel and represent severe anti-Semitism and racism, Army Radio reported.
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The letter is also expected to call on the UN to censure Iran over the comments.

Jafari made the comment in a letter to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, to offer condolences after the killing of senior guerrilla commander Imad Mughniyah in a car bomb last week in Damascus.

Iran does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has often predicted the imminent demise of Israel.

Western analysts say the Revolutionary Guards, an ideological wing of Iran's armed forces, has given military support to Hezbollah. Tehran denies this, saying it only provides moral backing to the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group.

"Undoubtedly the martyrdom of this sincere fighter [Imad Mughniyah] will strengthen the determination of all revolutionary and combatant Muslims, particularly his co-combatants in confrontation with the Zionist regime," Jafari added in his letter.

The Guards were set up after the 1979 revolution in Iran to protect Iran's Islamic system. They have land, sea and air units with a separate command structure to the regular military. They have an expanding economic role, including in Iran's oil industry.

Also on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that even after 60 years, Israel still has neither legitimacy nor any role in the Middle East, the ISNA news agency reported.

"The West has tried to impose a fabricated regime on the Middle East but even after 60 years, the Zionist regime (Israel) has neither gained any legitimacy nor played any role in this region," Mottaki was quoted as saying.

Calling United States policies in the Middle East a failure, Mottaki predicted the collapse of Israel.

"The era of imposing policies on other states by military threats is over. The nations in the region will no longer surrender to any threats," Mottaki said.

Hezbollah: Revenge for Mughniyah death will be 'extremely costly'

On Sunday, the Hezbollah head of the southern Lebanon region Sheikh Nabil Kauk said "It won't be long before the conceited Zionists realize that Imad Mughniyah's blood is extremely costly, and it makes history and brings about a new victory."

Kauk, who spoke at a memorial service for the slain terrorist in Mughniyah's home village, Tayr Debba, in south Lebanon, added that Israel was "standing on one leg of fear and trepidation, having become the hostage of its own act of stupidity."

Kauk spoke at a ceremony attended by the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Hezbollah senior officials and representatives from the Amal terrorist group, Fatah and representatives from the Lebanese army.

'No worthy replacement'

Defense Minister Barak also said Sunday that he anticipated Hezbollah would try to retaliate for the assassination, possibly with help from Syria and Iran. But he added that "it will take a long time before a worthy replacement is found to take Mughinyah's place."

Meanwhile, foreign media published details about the attack. The Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai reported that the hit was perpetrated by security personnel of "an Arab state that shares a border with Syria," using American technology.

The report said Mughniyah was killed by a blast from an explosive charge that contained 3,000 metal fragments, as he was passing near the car that carried the bomb.

The report added he was coming back from a meeting with a Palestinian official.

Gulf funding

The funding for the assassination, according to Al-Rai, came from one of the Gulf states. The final decision to carry out the attack came from Jerusalem, the paper claimed. Israel's Channel 2 said the assassination involved interested parties from Lebanon.

According to "informed Israel sources" cited by London's Sunday Times, it was Israel's Mossad spy agency that carried out the car bombing that killed Mughniyah.

The fatal explosion, the paper said, came from an explosive charge that had been planted in the headrest of the car Mughniyah was driving. The sources told the newspaper that Mughniyah had been cooperating with the Syrians in planning a major terrorist attack against Israel, in retaliation for a September 2007 Israeli air strike against a suspected nuclear facility deep inside Syria.


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      1.   Painfull for Isreal blah blah blah 04:28  |  Adrian de Klerk 18/02/08
      2.   Whoever killed Mugniyah, I fear has awoken 04:38  |  Murray of Montreal 18/02/08
      3.   Hezbollah threat 05:07  |  marcel 18/02/08
      4.   Why does Israel wait? 05:17  |  Jack 18/02/08
      5.   Nasrallah: You Lost Your Forbidden City, Next Will Be ... 05:28  |  Lavi 18/02/08
      6.   TAKE OUT MORE OF THEM 05:53  |  Smart Person 18/02/08
      7.   hopefully hezbollah annihilates you terrorists 05:54  |  raw truth 18/02/08
      8.   Mad Stubborn Raging Terrorist Bulls. 05:55  |  The Archives 18/02/08
      9.   Hizbullah killed Mugniyah - they needed a causes bella 06:01  |  Simone 18/02/08
      10.   Caught In the ACt 06:08  |  Brad 18/02/08
      11.   Correction Aswan Dam not Assad Dam 06:09  |  The Archives 18/02/08
      12.   Watch Out 06:23  |  Wibawa 18/02/08
      13.   Sounds like another "Car Renovation" is in order. 06:23  |  Devin Leonard 18/02/08
      14.   Hezbollah 06:41  |  American 18/02/08
      15.   Security demands to be always on alert. 07:24  |  Jean Van Daem 18/02/08
      16.   Mugniyah revenge to be `extremely costly` for Israel 07:31  |  H GEORGE KAGAN 18/02/08
      17.   How does one tell the difference between racism and revenge? 07:40  |  Binyamin Dissen 18/02/08
      18.   AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!Snap!!!!! 07:53  |  Travis 18/02/08
      19.   His-Bull 07:56  |  US Citizen 18/02/08
      20.   Nasrallah 08:06  |  lover of zion 18/02/08
      21.   Yes it will be costly, but our response 1000 times costlier 08:20  |  Dan 18/02/08
      22.   I`m Ready, My car is still under warranty. 08:27  |  Mik 18/02/08
      23.   Very Painful To Israel 08:31  |  Hisham 18/02/08
      24.   SO SHALL PERISH ALL THY ENEMIES, O GOD OF VENGEANCE!!!))))))) 08:34  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 18/02/08
      25.   How easy is to talk. 08:42  |  charro 18/02/08
      26.   THE HIDDEN Hero offers no proof and needs none to attack Israel. 09:06  |  PETER SM 18/02/08
      27.   murray of montreal 09:18  |  danny 18/02/08
      28.   morge photo 09:20  |  Shimon List 18/02/08
      29.   what a Kauk 09:24  |  don 18/02/08
      30.   Threshold of peace 09:26  |  EJ 18/02/08
      31.   Typical Middle Eastern Logic 09:27  |  Tzfonit 18/02/08
      32.   Typical Middle Eastern Logic 09:27  |  Tzfonit 18/02/08
      33.   ultimate warning to the mad rat wearing a black turban 09:31  |  Baz Meshopar 18/02/08
      34.   Haaretz STOP TERRORIZING US ! 09:54  |  Rick and TC 18/02/08
      35.   Don`t worry,be happy 09:57  |  Saladin 18/02/08
      36.   Why Are The Israelis so Arrogant, But Lack Confidence? 09:58  |  Druze Rebel 18/02/08
      37.   the "al-rai" and "london times" reports are ludicrous... 10:01  |  eric 18/02/08
      38.   BRING IT ONNN!!!! 10:09  |  Ben Uziel 18/02/08
      39.   For the Druze Rebel 10:11  |  george 18/02/08
      40.   #16 Eric 10:14  |  Paul Wood 18/02/08
      41.   DRUZE REBEL Worry about YOUR Lebanese brothers killing YOU. 10:23  |  PETER SM 18/02/08
      42.   mossad`s work is incomplete 10:24  |  ehud yatom 18/02/08
      43.   # 27, BEN UZIEL 10:26  |  indrajaya 18/02/08
      44.   Druze rebel 10:26  |  EJ 18/02/08
      45.   they never learn so it goes on and on 10:27  |  v hardman 18/02/08
      46.   I have lost all respect for the haaretz censors 10:27  |  Dror 18/02/08
      47.   #18 not #8 10:29  |  Dror 18/02/08
      48.   REFORM THE LEADERSHIP 10:31  |  indrajaya 18/02/08
      49.   SALADIN BE happy then no more Hesballa just plenty of virgins. 10:31  |  PETER SM 18/02/08
      50.   `..a worthy replacement..` & the Sunday Times 10:35  |  The Judge 18/02/08
      51.   Travis from NYC 10:36  |  danny 18/02/08
      52.   george 39 10:39  |  Saladin 18/02/08
      53.   # 36 druze rebel 10:39  |  danny 18/02/08
      54.   Brad the Canadian tuning war drums 10:51  |  Mike McKenna 18/02/08
      55.   No hope for humanity. 11:02  |  Maureen Ann 18/02/08
      56.   Lebamrse: be carefull: INDRAJAYA #48 IS REFORMING THE LEADERSHIP 11:03  |  Vittorio 18/02/08
      57.   Iran is pushing for another war 11:03  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 18/02/08
      58.   Amal terrorist organization? I don`t think so! 11:04  |  Wael 18/02/08
      59.   #23 Hisham 11:04  |  * BEN JABO 18/02/08
      60.   Mug`s erasure 11:10  |  moshe Israel 18/02/08
      61.   Rules of war!! 11:12  |  George Massad 18/02/08
      62.   re rosner`s report on white wash of robert malley 11:15  |  purple haze 18/02/08
      63.   there is a sort of patronising attitude in the statement 11:19  |  purple haze 18/02/08
      64.   qqqqqqqqq 11:20  |  qqqqqqqqq 18/02/08
      65.   qqqqqqqqqq 11:21  |  qqqqqqqqq 18/02/08
      66.   qqqqqqqqqq 11:25  |  qqqqqqqqq 18/02/08
      67.   # 61 george massad (very close to mossad) 11:29  |  danny 18/02/08
      68.   # 52 saladin 11:38  |  danny 18/02/08
      69.   MUGNIYAH 11:39  |  HAHAH Y 18/02/08
      70.   Revenge? Consider him executed for his `94 Argentina bombings.