Israel Warns of Tehran 'Danger'

BBC News:

Israel regards Iran as "a clear and present danger", Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has said. His comments came after the Islamic republic's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map". Mr Shalom said it was clear that Iran was trying to develop a programme to make nuclear weapons. READ MORE

Iran denies this, but insists it has the right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme for peaceful purposes.

Minister Sergei Lavrov, Mr Shalom said: "We believe that Iran is trying to buy time... so it can develop a nuclear bomb."

He added that he believed "Iran is a clear and present danger".

'World oppressor'

Mr Ahmadinejad made his comments at a conference in the Iranian capital Tehran entitled The World without Zionism.

He said Israel's establishment was "a move by the world oppressor (the West) against the Islamic world".

Referring to Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."

Correspondents say this was the first time in years that such a high-ranking Iranian official had called for Israel's eradication, although such slogans are still regularly used at regime rallies.

Mr Ahmadinejad warned leaders of Muslim nations who recognised the state of Israel that they "face the wrath of their own people".

He added: "Anyone who signs a treaty which recognises the entity of Israel means he has signed the surrender of the Muslim world."

Mr Ahmadinejad came to power earlier this year, replacing Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who attempted to improve Iran's relations with the West.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Mr Ahmadinejad's opinion "just reconfirms what we have been saying about the regime in Iran. It underscores the concerns we have about Iran's nuclear operations."

The US suspects Iran's civilian nuclear programme is a cover for a nuclear weapons programme, and has threatened to refer Tehran to the United Nations Security Council to face possible sanctions.

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report last month said questions about Iran's nuclear programme remained unanswered, despite an intensive investigation.

The UK, France, Germany and the US are pressing Iran to provide more access to its nuclear plans.