TEHRAN, Iran - The president of Iran again lashed out at Israel on Friday and said it was "heading toward annihilation," just days after Tehran raised fears about its nuclear activities by saying it successfully enriched uranium for the first time.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a "permanent threat" to the Middle East that will "soon" be liberated. He also appeared to again question whether the Holocaust really happened.
"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation," Ahmadinejad said at the opening of a conference in support of the Palestinians. "The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."
Ahmadinejad provoked a world outcry in October when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map."
Of course, Iranian madmen like Ahamdinejad have been saying things like this for decades. It is nothing new. But then again, all that previous madness came at a time when Iran wasn't enriching uranium.
A lot of people are skeptical about the threat Iran poses to the world. They say that Iran is still "years" away from being a nuclear power, yet the estimates I have heard range from 16 days to 10 years. Frankly, I'm not sure which way to lean on those estimates...but one thing is clear: If our best assessments of Iran's nuclear capabilities is "they may have a nuke anywhere from some time next month to sometime in the next decade" shouldn't that tell us something? Like maybe it is time to learn more about Iran's nuclear program, whether it be through diplomacy or force?
Especially when they are threatening to wipe out Israel.