ISRAEL IRAN - DEMOCRACY VS. ISLAMIC TERRORISM
Israel Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon met with senior Italian officials to discuss the Iranian sanctions, the situation in the Middle East and bilateral relations. The Deputy Foreign Minister met with the President of the Italian Parliament Gianfranco Fini, Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Stephania Craxi and opposition leader Enrico Letta, amongst others.
Ayalon discussed the recent events concerning the flotilla and the blockade of Gaza. The Italian officials expressed their support for the Israeli investigation into the events surrounding the flotilla and expressed understanding of Israel's position vis-à-vis the legal blockade of Gaza. The Deputy Foreign Minister thanked his hosts for their expressions of support for Israel's right to self-defense.
Referring to the blockade on Gaza, Ayalon said: "Unfortunately, Hamas has established a blockade on the Palestinian people in Gaza. The future of the blockade depends solely on Hamas. The moment that they adhere to the three principles that the international community established, the blockade will end."
Nevertheless, the Deputy Foreign Minister explained that attention should not be diverted from the issue of Iran. "Everything negative in the region emanates from Iran and they remain the true threat to the all the people in the region, including the Lebanese and Palestinian people," Ayalon continued. "Iran will continue to do everything possible to prevent progress towards peace in the region."
With this in mind, Ayalon called on Italy and the European Parliament to implement further sanctions on Iran. "We should take advantage of the latest United Nations Security Council resolution and provide a secondary layer of sanctions through the European Parliament and national parliaments, like Italy," Ayalon told the Italian officials. "We would also like to see more countries follow the lead of the Dutch Parliament and the U.S. Congress by designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist entity."
The Iran nuclear threat covers all of the Middle East and Europe.
Iran’s rapidly expanding missile program is a growing threat to regional stability in the Middle East and is a cause of grave concern to Tehran’s immediate and more distant neighbors. Al-Alam, Iran’s Arabic-language news service, recently declared that the Islamic Republic is the region’s missile power. Additionally, it is suspected that North Korean technological know-how is being transferred to Iran, aiding its nuclear program development.
On May 20, 2009, Iran test-fired the solid-fuel Sejil-2 missile with a range of more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km), capable of striking Israel and parts of Europe. According to Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar, the Sejil-2 differs from the earlier version of the Sejil in that it “is equipped with a new navigation system as well as precise and sophisticated sensors.” The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that the test-launch was successful. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the missile “landed exactly on target.”
The advantage of a solid-fuel missile is that it is easily stored and hidden, moved, reassembled, and fired on short notice, making it more difficult to target.
On Feb. 3 2009, Iran launched a domestically made satellite into orbit for the first time. Iran said the launch of the Omid (Hope) research and telecom satellite was a major step in its space technology timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit, can launch warheads.
No comments:
Post a Comment