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Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners June 27, 2005 |
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FM Silvan Shalom labeled Iran's election of a hard-line president undemocratic, and asked the international community to further isolate the Islamic regime.
"We do not consider them to be democratic elections by any means," Shalom said at a news conference with the visiting Austrian foreign minister. "Faced with the Iranian nuclear threat, the international community must, more than before, formulate a unified and stern policy toward Iran."
Shalom also called on the U.N. Security Council to "take the (nuclear) matter into its own hands."
He didn't propose any specific measures.
In the election run-off on Friday, hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad beat the reform-minded candidate, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who accused Islamic clerics of tampering with the results.
Israel frequently warns about Iran's nuclear program, accusing it of developing nuclear weapons that could reach the Jewish state. Iran says it is using its nuclear capabilities for non-hostile means.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz -- himself Iranian-born -- said the election indicated the end of any Iranian reform process and the return of the radical religious policies of the past.
"The election of the most extreme and conservative of the candidates means that all the centers of power in the country are now occupied by the most extreme groups," Mofaz told a group of students of Iranian origin at Tel Aviv University.
"Israel demands that Iran, under its new leadership, not support global terrorism, and not continue to aggravate the Israeli-Palestinian dispute," he added. "We would expect that Iran would cease supporting, abetting and financing terrorist organizations, led by (Lebanese group) Hezbollah and Hamas, who act against Israelis."
Separately, Shalom urged the European Union not to hold contact with the Hamas terrorist group, which has carried out numerous suicide bombings in Israel. Hamas said last week that it had held talks with European officials.
Asked about EU contacts with Hamas, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnick replied, "The European Union has always condemned violence and has always condemned terrorism."
The AP contributed to this report.
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