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Iranian official: Countdown to Israel's destruction has begun
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 

Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Hadad has warned that the "countdown to Israel's destruction has begun," in an interview published Thursday in an Iranian newspaper.

Hadad's comment was one of a number of scathing remarks made by Iranian officials regarding Israel this week, a trend apparently escalated by the assassination of Hezbollah's second-in-command Imad Mugniyah earlier this month.

Also Thursday, an adviser to Iran's most powerful figure said Mughniyah's assassination would accelerate Israel's demise at the hands of outraged followers of the Shi'ite Lebanese group.
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Yahya Rahim Safavi, a former commander-in-chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Mughniyah's killing in a car bomb in the Syrian capital Damascus had angered thousands of young members of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

"With such anger, the definite death of Israel will arrive sooner," Rahim Safavi told the official IRNA news agency.

Rahim Safavi was appointed as a military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say in all state matters.

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 group.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called Israel a "filthy germ" and "savage beast" established by Western states in their bid to dominate Middle East nations.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon promised Wednesday to respond "firmly" to Ahmadinejad's verbal attacks on Israel, which he called "intolerable."

Ban made the promise in a meeting with Israel's Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman, who requested the meeting with the UN chief.

Ahmadinejad's comments came just days after a top commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard called Israel a "cancerous germ" which would be wiped out by Hezbollah.

Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted by the Fars News Agency on Monday 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."

Jafari made the remark in a letter to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, offering condolences after the killing of terrorist mastermind Imad Mughniyah, which Iran has blamed on Israel.

The Foreign Ministry sent a letter of protest to the United Nations over Jafari's remarks, Army Radio reported earlier this week.

Last month, Ahmadinejad called on the West to acknowledge Israel's "imminent collapse" and to "stop supporting the Zionists, as [their] regime reached its final stage."

"Accept that the life of Zionists will sooner or later come to an end," the Iranian president said in a televised speech.

He added, "What we have right now is the last chapter [of Israeli atrocities] which the Palestinians and regional nations will confront and eventually turn in Palestine's favor."

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      1.   Iran sets up its own destruction 14:58  |  Fred McCann 21/02/08
      2.   Gholam check your missiles first 15:01  |  Zouzou 21/02/08
      3.   Israel fights the war of the West. 15:17  |  Jean Van Daem 21/02/08
      4.   Fred: In Your Dreams only ! 15:21  |  Muslim 21/02/08
      5.   Iran can be wiped out, too 15:28  |  judith 21/02/08
      6.   Best be booking those flights then 15:33  |  Matthew Kretzmer 21/02/08
      7.   Iranian Hitler To Die Soon 15:40  |  Yosemite 21/02/08
      8.   Israel`s demise 15:49  |  Bill59 21/02/08
      9.   Warning to Iran 15:49  |  John the revelator 21/02/08
      10.   israel destruction 15:54  |  jorge luis 21/02/08
      11.   to iranian leader 15:56  |  Abrum 21/02/08
      12.   #6 not this time mathew you will go too 15:57  |  v hardman 21/02/08
      13.   countdown to fred mc cann 15:59  |  jorge luis 21/02/08
      14.   #4Muslim 16:06  |  John Allen 21/02/08
      15.   This is quite serious 16:11  |  Paul Wood 21/02/08
      16.   Israel is the Germany of the Middle East = Occupation + Apatheid 16:13  |  POP 21/02/08
      17.   4 Muslim,agreed,but Iran does not need to do anything! 16:18  |  lakshmi 21/02/08
      18.   last time these daily rants occurred was 1967 16:19  |  frenz 21/02/08
      19.   muslim (4) - what are your dreams? 16:21  |  Ralph 21/02/08
      20.   I Wonder 16:23  |  Naomi 21/02/08
      21.   ABOUT TIME TERRORAN KICKED OUT OF U.N. AND ISOLATED FROM WORLD 16:24  |  don 21/02/08
      22.   Only the childish will be wound up by this silliness 16:32  |  Natallie Durson 21/02/08
      23.   The Fiddlers can·t count,... only divide.!! 16:36  |  Stephen. 21/02/08
      24.   The Occupation is the seed of Israel`s own destruction 16:45  |  Soothsayer 21/02/08
      25.   2005, 2001, 1982, 1973, 1956, 1948, 1947 ... 16:46  |  Chanalau, Tova 21/02/08
      26.   Iran Trying to Provoke War to Distract Attention from NUKES 16:49  |  Jane 21/02/08
      27.   I blame Carter too 16:49  |  Farhad 21/02/08
      28.   Fred: In Your Dreams only ! 16:53  |  Not-a-dhimmi 21/02/08
      29.   to Natalie Durson 17:04  |  Harry 21/02/08
      30.   Walk Your Dog in Iran... Get 4 months in jail and 30 lashes 17:06  |  Klaudia 21/02/08
      31.   @5 Judith in NY 17:07  |  Mark B. 21/02/08
      32.   Foolishness 17:08  |  B 21/02/08
      33.   Re: 4 Muslim,agreed,but Iran does not need to do anything! 17:15  |  not-a-dhimmi 21/02/08
      34.   Mr.ahamdinejad 17:17  |  mamad7khat 21/02/08
      35.   Iran puts the Arabs to shame 17:19  |  Me 21/02/08
      36.   Countdown 17:20  |  Chris 21/02/08
      37.   Gholam?!?Whos Gholam? 17:24  |  mamad7khat 21/02/08
      38.   Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Hadad Just another Asshole 17:25  |  Kipperraes 21/02/08
      39.   To #4 17:26  |  Oleg 21/02/08
      40.   #16 POP this is your Cultured Palestinkian 17:28  |  Robert/Montreal 21/02/08
      41.   response to #4 Muslim 17:30  |  Kipperraes 21/02/08
      42.   Destruction of Israel 17:32  |  Michael 21/02/08
      43.   it began a while ago... 17:34  |  ravi 21/02/08
      44.   Do Iranian living in the West, agreeing with Hadad? 17:53  |  Max Zinger.P.Chimist 21/02/08
      45.   we do not approve of our govt. 17:53  |  farham 21/02/08
      46.   Iran talks, Israel shoots 17:53  |  Nora 21/02/08
      47.   With Comments Like This is it Any Wonder Israel is Nervous? 17:54  |  MIKE 21/02/08
      48.   This is Crazy - Iran - you need an Uprisal!! 17:57  |  Alastair 21/02/08
      49.   "Israeli atrocities" in parenthesis? 18:00  |  American-Israeli 21/02/08
      50.   Mamad7khat in Tehran.... 18:00  |  Klaudia 21/02/08
      51.   To #37 18:00  |  Oleg 21/02/08
      52.   Saudi 18:02  |  Raphy 21/02/08
      53.   Agree With durson unfortunately 18:03  |  dyinglikeflies 21/02/08
      54.   Me #35 no so fast, there are many great Arab leaders 18:07  |  An Iranian 21/02/08
      55.   Israel Survived Pharaoh & Hitler, Will Survive Islam Also 18:09  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 21/02/08
      56.   To Raphy 18:09  |  Oleg 21/02/08
      57.   It`s the Iranian dictatorship whose days are numbered 18:15  |  newageblues 21/02/08
      58.   Saudi Arabia - 4th worst dictator in the world 18:20  |  Ethel 21/02/08
      59.   # 22 Natallie Durson: so did Hitler in Mein Kampf and speeches... 18:20  |  Max Zinger P.Chimist 21/02/08
      60.   To #4 - Muslim 18:20  |  Joe 21/02/08
      61.   CLICKFOOL & DURSON CONVENIENTLY ABSENT!!!! 18:22  |  Ben Uziel 21/02/08
      62.   #47 Mike 18:23  |  Paul Wood 21/02/08
      63.   "Shum baiah" 18:24  |  Gilbert 21/02/08
      64.   NOT THE FIRST TO TRY!!! BRING IT ON!!! 18:25  |  Ben Uziel 21/02/08
      65.   INDEED, INDEED 18:29  |  indrajaya 21/02/08
      66.   Hate driven words from a Golem 18:29  |  Yosi the Israeli 21/02/08
      67.   #22, durson 18:31  |  dan 21/02/08
      68.   Israel will be around longer than the Persian Empire of Iran 18:38  |  Voice of Reason 21/02/08
      69.   Durson the feminist now endorses genocide 18:38  |  Joe Sittizen 21/02/08
      70.   The countdown to the destruction of the mullah regime has begun 18:40  |  David 21/02/08
      71.   @21, don the same is with most muslim/asian/african 18:40  |  vladimir 21/02/08