Iran calls to destroy nuclear
capacities of US, Israel - http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-calls-for-destruction-of-us-israel-nuclear-capacities/
Islamic Republic's defense minister says negotiators must hold talks on disarming Washington, Jerusalem of WMDs
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier-General Hossein Dehqan said Sunday that discussion about the destruction of the United States's and Israel's nuclear weapons capabilities should immediately follow current talks with the international community on Iran's nuclear program.
"We ask our nuclear negotiators to focus their utmost efforts on the complete annihilation of the Zionist regime's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons as the biggest danger posed to the region and world security as well as the US nuclear disarmament based on paragraph 6 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) alongside their negotiations with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany)," Dehqan said, as cited in the semi-official Fars News Agency.
The focus must be on a Middle East free of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), he was quoted as saying.
"Iran's missile capability is defensive, conventional and deterrent and not negotiable," said the Iranian defense minister, in response to a UN report earlier this month saying that the Islamic Republic was pursuing a robust ballistic missile program even as nuclear talks were ongoing.
Earlier this month, the UN reported that Iran has pursued ballistic missile development even as international talks surrounding efforts to scale back its nuclear program have been ongoing.
"With the exception of several launches, periodic displays of hardware and one recent revelation of a new ballistic launch facility, the program is opaque and not subject to the same level of transparency that Iran's nuclear activities are under IAEA safeguards," the UN panel of experts wrote.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the report by telling a visiting US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that Israel has been "saying all along that Iran is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community."
"So I wasn't surprised and I'm sure you weren't surprised by the recent UN report on Iran's ongoing efforts to deceive the international community, to continue to develop its ICBMs and to continually violate its commitments of Security Council stipulations on forbidding it to develop certain parts of its nuclear program," said Netanyahu.
Hagel assured Netanyahu that the United States would continue its commitment to ensuring Iran does not get a nuclear weapon" and that the US would "continue to hold Iran accountable for its destabilizing activities across the region,"
"We will continue working closely with all of our friends and partners in the Gulf to reinforce their defenses against these destabilizing activities," he added.
Iran's Supreme Leader: Jihad Will
Continue Until America is No More - Reza Kahlili - http://news.yahoo.com/iran-supreme-leader-jihad-continue-until-america-no-180230486.html
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, all but said on Sunday that negotiations over the country's illicit nuclear program are over and that the Islamic Republic's ideals include destroying America.
"Those (Iranians) who want to promote negotiation and surrender to the oppressors and blame the Islamic Republic as a warmonger in reality commit treason," Khamenei told a meeting of members of parliament, according to the regime's Fars News Agency.
Khamenei emphasized that without a combative mindset, the regime cannot reach its higher Islamic role against the "oppressors' front."
"The reason for continuation of this battle is not the warmongering of the Islamic Republic. Logic and reason command that for Iran, in order to pass through a region full of pirates, needs to arm itself and must have the capability to defend itself," he said.
"Today's world is full of thieves and plunderers of human honor, dignity and morality who are equipped with knowledge, wealth and power, and under the pretense of humanity easily commit crimes and betray human ideals and start wars in different parts of the world."
In response to a question by a parliamentarian on how long this battle will continue, Khamenei said, "Battle and jihad are endless because evil and its front continue to exist. ... This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors' front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought. ... This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and need for great strides."
Khamenei cited the scientific advancement of the country. "The accelerated scientific advancement of the last 12 years cannot stop under any circumstances," he said, referring to the strides the regime has made toward becoming a nuclear power.
As reported on May 19 on The Daily Caller, Iran has put up new roadblocks to reaching a deal with the P5+1 world powers over its illicit nuclear program. The powers are the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany.
Three days of negotiations in the fourth round of Geneva meetings ended recently without concrete results when the Iranian team presented the country's new "red lines" - diminishing any hope by the Obama administration to claim victory in its approach to Iran's nuclear ambitions, according to reports from Iran.
The Obama administration had hoped that with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif showing an eagerness to solve the nuclear issue and address the West's concerns, there would be a possibility for a negotiated solution. An interim agreement penned last November in Geneva was touted as a "historic nuclear deal."
Under that agreement, Iran, in return for billions of dollars in sanctions relief, limited its enrichment activity to the 5 percent level with a current stockpile of over 10 tons (enough for six nuclear bombs), converted much of its 20 percent enriched stock to harmless oxide and agreed to allow more intrusive inspections of its nuclear plants by the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose inspections were limited to only agreed-upon facilities.
The Iranian delegation last week presented new red lines that could not be crossed, including the expansion of the country's research and development for its nuclear program, the need of the country to continue enrichment, and the fact that the country's ballistic missile program - despite U.N. sanctions - is not up for negotiation.
At the same time, IAEA officials met again with their Iranian counterparts last week in Tehran to discuss information on the work on detonators and needed collaboration by the regime to clear outstanding issues on its nuclear program as part of seven transparency steps Iran had agreed to fulfill by May 15, which has yet to take place.
Iranian general vows to destroy
Israel if US attacks - By Adiv Sterman and Yifa Yaakov - http://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-general-vows-to-destroy-israel-if-us-attacks/
After wiping Jewish state off the map, Iran would turn its armies against America, says deputy chief of staff of armed forces
A high-ranking Iranian official threatened Friday to destroy Israel should the US ever attack the Islamic Republic.
Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, added that after the Iranian regime was done wiping the Jewish state off the map, it would turn its armies against the US.
"They [the US] know that aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran would mean annihilation of Tel Aviv and spread of war into the United States," Jazayeri said, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.
Jazayeri said that US President Barack Obama was a fool for stating that the US was still considering taking military action against Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"Had the US and its allies the capability to attack Iran they would not hesitate a moment to carry out their barbaric act," the Iranian general asserted.
"Of course, it is surprising that Obama is not embarrassed to rehash his empty words," he said.
Jazayeri further stated that he believes the "empire of money and weapons" is nearing collapse.
In his foreign policy address this week, Obama reiterated that the US reserved "all options" for thwarting Iran's nuclear program, but was relatively upbeat on a possible diplomatic solution. "The odds of success are still long, and we reserve all options to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said at West Point. "But for the first time in a decade, we have a very real chance of achieving a breakthrough agreement - one that is more effective and durable than what would be achieved through the use of force."
Under an interim deal penned in November, Iran agreed to curb parts of its nuclear program for six months in exchange for limited relief from crippling economic sanctions. The agreement came into effect on January 20.
However, in a January interview, Obama maintained that even after the deal was signed, all options - including a potential military strike - remained on the table.
Earlier this year, Jazayeri called Obama a "low-IQ US president," whose threats are oft-cited punchlines in the Islamic Republic, particularly among children.
On Thursday, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami claimed Washington's influence in the Middle East was growing weaker and that the era of a "global US empire" was coming to an end.
A week beforehand, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the US was angered by Iran's opposition to "Western hegemony" and the "colonization" of Middle Eastern countries.
The US "becomes confused when a certain people in an important country with a very rich history and unique characteristics stands up to this ugly phenomenon of dominating [countries]," Khamenei said during a ceremony at an Iranian military facility, according to a translation provided by the Middle Eastern Media Research Institute.
"This is what angers the US, this is what unites the arrogant countries against Iran."
The supreme leader assured his audience that Iran would not be deterred by Western threats, and would continue to extend the reach of its influence throughout the globe.
"The [US] got angry, so let them," he said "Let them die in their anger."
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