 |
 |
 |
|
|
Interim Israeli PM Ehud Olmert attends a ceremony marking Holocaust Memorial Day at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Tuesday. (AP)
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
 |
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, left, recieves photos of his visit to Iran, during a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Wednesday. (AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff and partners April 26, 2006 |
|
| |
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, responding to a series of threatening statements, called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a dictator and said Tuesday that Israel was able to defend itself.
"We need to make sure no one has the capability or the power to commit destruction against us," Olmert said in what could be a veiled warning of potential Israeli military action against Iran.
"The Jewish people and the very existence of Israel" are Iran's targets, Olmert said, "and we don't see enough of a response from the world."
In a satellite relay to a convention of the Anti-Defamation League, a pro-Israel group, Olmert, who is in the midst of putting together the final pieces in a new Israeli government, responded firmly to the Iranian leader's frequent rhetorical jabs at Israel.
Olmert said he takes the threats by Ahmadinejad to erase Israel from the map "very seriously."
"We do not take it lightly," Olmert said, speaking from Jerusalem. "We are powerful and able to defend ourselves."
Olmert has urged the international community to work against Iran's nuclear program, saying Tehran's ambitions threaten not only Israel but all of Western civilization.
Israel has long identified Iran as its biggest threat, and these concerns have grown amid repeated calls by Ahmadinejad for Israel's destruction.
On top of the threats the Iranian leader has denounced Israel as a "fake regime."
Olmert's response came as Israel and Jews around the world commemorated the Holocaust, the attempt by the Nazis and their supporters in World War II to destroy European Jewry. An estimated 6 million Jews died in concentration camps and killing fields.
In his speech to the conference Olmert reiterated his determination to establish a "new reality" in the region, either through negotiations or unilaterally.
He said Israel would separate itself from the Palestinians on parts of the West Bank, affording the Palestinians a state and a better life.
"We want to end this cycle of violence," he said, referring to the decades-old conflict between Arabs and Israel.
Olmert also praised President Bush, saying Israel was "in good hands" when it relied on him.
Israel launching satellite to spy on Iran's nuclear program
Russia on Tuesday launched a spy satellite for Israel that the Israelis say will be used to spy on Iran's nuclear program, as Iran's leader persisted with his calls for the Jewish state's destruction.
A Russian official said the satellite reached orbit, but experts said it would be some time before it could be determined if the satellite was operational.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Iran has already funneled $10 million to Palestinian militant groups since the start of the year, according to a newspaper report Tuesday.
Israel has for years regarded Iran as the primary threat to its survival, disputing Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is peaceful. Ahmadinejad has made this threat more tangible by repeatedly questioning Israel's right to exist, most recently on Monday, when he said Israel was a "fake regime" that "cannot logically continue to live."
The Eros B satellite is designed to spot images on the ground as small as 70 centimeters (27.5 inches), a defense official said. That level of resolution would allow Israel to gather information on Iran's nuclear program and its long-range missiles, which are capable of striking Israel, he said.
The launch of the Israeli Eros B satellite took place from a mobile launch-pad at the Svobodny cosmodrome in Siberia at 8.47 p.m Moscow time (1647 GMT), said Alexei Kuznetsov, a spokesman for the military space forces.
About 20 minutes later, the satellite successfully reached orbit, Russian news agencies reported, citing the space forces' press service.
"The Israeli satellite reached its target orbit and has been transferred to the client's control," Kuznetsov was quoted as saying by ITAR-Tass.
"The most important thing in a satellite is its ability to photograph and its resolution," the Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive subject matter. "This satellite has very high resolution, and (state-run) Israel Aircraft Industries has a great ability to process information that is relayed."
If the launch is successful, it will take seven to 10 days to see whether the images that are transmitted are sharp and clear, he said.
An attempt to launch a military spy satellite, Amos 6, failed last year. Amos 5 is still in orbit, and Channel 10 reported Israel plans to launch another spy satellite next year.
Tehran has helped to finance Palestinian terrorist groups as part of its campaign against the Jewish state, and appears to have stepped up funding since the Hamas militant group swept Palestinian elections in January.
At the inauguration of an Iranian studies department at Tel Aviv University, Mofaz said Iran had sent $10 million to militant groups in the first four months of the year.
"The money transferred by Iran serves as fuel for the terror groups," The Jerusalem Post quoted Mofaz as saying.
"Hamas' rise to power, coupled with Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, demonstrates the growing motivation to perpetrate anti-Israel terror attacks."
He did not say how the money was funneled to the militants.
Iran has pledged to give the cash-strapped Hamas government money, but it has yet to deliver on its promise. Israeli experts have said that in the past, Iran had primarily funded other Palestinian militant groups, to the tune of about $10 million a year.
Iran's threatening comments about Israel had special resonance on Tuesday, which Israel marked as Holocaust Remembrance Day. Israeli Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres, in Poland for Holocaust observances, drew a parallel between Ahmadinejad and Adolf Hitler.
"We will haven't recovered from this (the Holocaust) and I still hear these calls from Iran to destroy Israel," Peres said.
Ahmadinejad's words, he added, "are enough to put us all on alert."
Tehran says it will hide its nuclear program if West takes 'harsh measures'
A defiant and threatening Iran said it would hide its nuclear program if the West took "harsh measures" after this week's U.N. Security Council deadline for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.
Beyond that, Iran on Tuesday openly offered to transfer nuclear technology to other countries, including chaos-ridden Sudan.
Ali Larijani, the top Iranian nuclear negotiator, also renewed the country's vow to end cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and said increasing pressure on Iran would only stiffen its resolve.
"If you take harsh measures, we will hide this program. If you use the language of force, you should not expect us to act transparently," Larijani said, adding that western countries on the IAEA board "have to understand they cannot resolve this issue through force."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was visiting Greece and Turkey, fired back almost immediately.
"Iranians can threaten, but they are deepening their own isolation," she said.
Top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued the offer to transfer nuclear technology as he met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
"Iran's nuclear capability is one example of various scientific capabilities in the country. ... The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to transfer the experience, knowledge and technology of its scientists," Khamenei told al-Bashir.
Al-Bashir said last month that his impoverished, violence-ridden country was considering a nuclear program to generate electrical power.
Such a technology transfer would be legal as long as it is between signatory-states to the nonproliferation treaty, and the IAEA was informed.
Word of the transfer offer became public by the time Rice reached Ankara, Turkey, prompting her to respond yet again.
We "have to be concerned when there are statements from Iran that Iran would not only have this technology, but would share it, share technology and expertise," Rice told a news conference.
The former Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi, meanwhile, said U.S. and Israeli spies, in a bid to entrap Tehran, had tried to sell it enriched uranium but the offers were rejected. He did not say when the alleged attempts were made.
"The U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies repeatedly tried discredit Iran but failed to succeed. They repeatedly sent spies with the intention with selling enriched uranium to Iran and then to start a campaign against us.
"They got no reply thanks to the vigilance of our intelligence community," he said Tuesday.
With the approaching Friday U.N. deadline, Iran has become more defiant almost daily.
"If U.N. Security Council sanctions are to be imposed on Iran, we will definitely suspend our cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency," Larijani said, echoing the words of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad only a day earlier.
Iran's defiant stance appeared to stem in part from opposition to sanctions by Russia and China, both permanent, veto-holding members of the Security Council.
"We see no alternative to the negotiations process," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency while in Beijing for a regional anti-terrorism meeting.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang urged all parties "to show flexibility," saying the international community should not abandon efforts for a peaceful settlement.
The United States has not openly threatened military action and says it wants a diplomatic solution as well, but U.S. President George W. Bush has said all options, including military force, remain on the table.
Britain, meanwhile, also warned Iran against miscalculating its moves.
"The Iranians, in my judgment, would miscalculate if they believed that Russia or China would block appropriate and effective sanctions, which targeted the regime, not the ordinary population," Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.
Iran's tough talk Tuesday appeared to be the strongest public defiance so far with only two days remaining for it to meet the Security Council's demand that it suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or warheads.
On Monday, Ahmadinejad boldly predicted the council would not impose sanctions and warned he was thinking about dropping out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Larijani emphasized that stance Tuesday, saying without question Iran would ignore the demand.
"If you take the first step wrong, the wrong trend will continue. We welcome any logical proposal to resolve the issue. They just need to say why should we suspend," Larijani said.
The IAEA said it would not issue any public statements ahead of director Mohamed ElBaradei's report to the Security Council and the agency's board, expected by week's end.
The United States and European allies are expected to press for binding measures against Iran when the Security Council begins the next round of review of the Iranian case as soon as next week.
Although Rice has recently raised the likelihood of pressing for sanctions, she did not go that far Tuesday when taking questions after a meeting with her Greek counterpart, saying only that the Security Council must now issue something more concrete than last month's "presidential statement," which gave Iran 30 days to comply.
Larajani said sanctions or even more coercive language might force Iran to speed up its nuclear programs and said punishing Iran did not make sense.
"How are you going to prevent our nuclear activities by imposing sanctions?" he asked.
"You can't set a framework through coercion. If you try to do it by force, our response will be to break such a framework," he said.
The United States, Britain and France say they have suspicions that Iran is seeking to make nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge and says its nuclear program is for peaceful electricity generation only.
Western concerns have built since 2002 when Iran was discovered to have secretly operated large-scale nuclear activities for two decades.
The IAEA says it has since found no direct evidence of an arms program, but it also says the Iranians have not been fully forthcoming.
After repeated attempts at negotiations, the IAEA reported Iran to the Security Council for noncompliance. The council then gave Iran until Friday to suspend enrichment.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
