The Iranian Leadership’s Continuing Declarations of Intent to Destroy Israel
2009-2012

Prof. Joshua Teitelbaum

Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
http://jcpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/IransIntent2012b.pdf
© 2012 Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

13 Tel Hai Street, Jerusalem, Israel
Tel. 972-2-5619281 Fax. 972-2-5619112
Email: jcpa@netvision.net.il
Website: www.jcpa.org

ISBN: 978-965-218-106-0

An updated version of “What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with
Israel: A Refutation of the Campaign to Excuse Ahmadinejad’s Incitement to
Genocide�(November 2008)

Preface
In 2008, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs published an in-depth study
of the Iranian leadership’s views on Israel and Jews.1 At the time,
international attention had been focused on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s
October 2005 statement that Israel should be “wiped off the map.� A
controversy arose at the time over whether he indeed made this remark or was
mistranslated, as several academics and two members of the U.S. House of
Representatives, Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Ron Paul (R-Texas), alleged.
It was demonstrated that Ahmadinejad indeed called for the destruction of
Israel and his words were not misrepresented.

The previous study concluded with the observation by Michael Axworthy, who
served as head of the Iran Section of Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth
Office from 1998 to 2000: “The formula had been used before by Khomeini and
others, and had been translated by representatives of the Iranian regime as
‘wiped off the map.’ Some of the dispute that has arisen over what exactly
Ahmadinejad meant by it has been rather bogus. When the slogan appeared
draped over missiles in military parades, that meaning was pretty clear.�2

In fact, when the Iranians go to the trouble of translating by themselves
into English the Persian slogans draped on their missile transports as
"Israel Must Be Wiped off the Map," there is no further basis for this
debate. (See top photo on page 20)

This newer study takes the previous analysis a step further.
Three features of these Iranian statements stand out:

1. What is striking is that these declarations calling for Israel's
destruction are being voiced by a broad spectrum of the Iranian leadership,
including different senior officers in the Revolutionary Guard.
2. Moreover, these spokesmen are not talking about a long historical process
regarding Israel's elimination, but rather a development that is to take
place in the near term.
3. Finally, these calls for the destruction of Israel for the most part are
not made in the context of an Iranian retaliatory strike, and are not
contingent upon what actions Israel will take.

Thus the problem is not just President Ahmadinejad, who will be out of
office when his term ends in 2013, but rather with the entire present-day
Iranian leadership. This was raised in the earlier study, but it is far more
evident in the pages that follow. Because of the skepticism that was voiced
in the past about
the veracity of Iranian statements about Israel, this study will demonstrate
what the Iranians have been precisely saying in considerable detail.

The context of this new examination of Iranian intentions is the increasing
evidence that has come out over the last year about Iranian nuclear
capabilities. In May 2011, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
revealed that Tehran had worked on sophisticated triggering technology that
“could be used for only one purpose: setting off a nuclear weapon.�3 The
next month, Iran announced that it planned to triple its production of
higher-grade uranium enriched to 20 percent, and was moving centrifuges to
its new Fordow enrichment facility, near Qom, which is located inside of a
mountain.4 In September 2011, the IAEA again noted that it was “increasingly
concerned� that
Iran was conducting experiments on warheads with nuclear payloads.5 Two
months later another IAEA report presented the existence of Iranian
engineering studies for replacing the conventional warhead in the re-entry
vehicle on a Shahab-3 missile with a new device.6

Perhaps most worrisome of all was an article posted on the website of the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on April 24, 2011. It imagines, in
a chilling, matter-of-fact fashion, the day after Iran’s first nuclear-bomb
test. The article concludes:

The day after Iran’s first nuclear test will be an ordinary day for us
Iranians, but many of us will have a new gleam in our eyes – a gleam of
national pride and might.

[Koran 8:60:] “And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied
at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy.�7

Despite all the financial and other sanctions on Iran enacted by the
international community, Iran has developed a core group of scientific
nationalists who continue to develop nuclear potential and cross technical
thresholds. Although estimates vary, it seems clear that in the
not-too-distant future Iran will be capable of detonating a nuclear device.8

Iranian Leaders on Israel:
A Reminder of Statements Past

Ahmadinejad’s Original “Wipe Israel off the Map� Speech

In an address to the “World without Zionism� conference held in Tehran on
October 26, 2005,
Ahmadinejad said:9

TRANSLATION

Our dear Imam [Khomeini] ordered that this Jerusalem-occupying regime
[Israel] must be erased from the page of time. This was a very wise
statement.

The New York Times translated the statement as Israel “must be wiped off the
map,� a nonliteral translation that nevertheless conveyed the meaning of the
original – the destruction of Israel.10
Despite the international controversy that Ahmadinejad’s language generated,
a report on his
October 2005 speech was still available on his presidential website as of
May 2008.

The Statements of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
The elimination of Israel from the region – January 15, 2001

In the Iranian system, the highest-ranking political authority is the
Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini in 1989. Khamenei has made statements about Israel similar to
Ahmadinejad’s. In a Friday sermon on December 15, 2000 (shown on Iranian
TV), he declared: “Iran’s position, which was first expressed by the Imam
[Khomeini] and stated several times by those responsible, is that the
cancerous tumor called Israel must be uprooted from the region.�11

A month later on January 15, 2001, at a meeting with organizers of the
International Conference for Support of the Intifada, he stated: “The
foundation of the Islamic regime is opposition to Israel and the perpetual
subject of Iran is the elimination of Israel from the region.�12 Iranian
journalist Kasra Naji translated this sentence from the original Farsi as:
“It is the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to erase Israel from the
map of the region.�13

Former President Mohammad Khatami
Confront and kill the Zionist regime – October 20, 2000

“If we abide by real legal laws, we should mobilize the whole Islamic world
for a sharp confrontation with the Zionist regime…if we abide by the Koran,
all of us should mobilize to kill.�14

Former President and Current Head of the Expediency Council Ayatollah
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Wiping Israel off the face of the earth is not unreasonable – December 14,
2000

The Jews [who immigrated to Israel] should expect a “reverse exodus,�
because one day, the tumor will be removed from
the body of the Islamic World, and then millions of Jews who moved there
will become homeless again. And when will that
be? We shall have to discuss it another time…. If one day, a very important
day, of course, the Islamic World will also be equipped with the weapons
available to Israel now, the imperialist strategy will reach an impasse,
because the employment of even one atomic bomb inside Israel will wipe it
off the face of the earth,
but [such a bomb] would only do damage to the Islamic World. It is not
unreasonable to consider this possibility.15

General Yahya Rahim Safavi
Death for the Zionist Regime – February 23, 2008

Yahya Rahim Safavi, one of the “hard-core� founders of the Revolutionary
Guard and its former commander, is now senior adviser to Supreme Leader
Khamenei. In a speech in February
2008, he said: “With God’s help the time has come for the Zionist regime’s
death sentence.�16

Safavi is also fond of referring to Israel as impure, unhygienic, and
contaminated. In remarks at a memorial ceremony for assassinated terrorist
Imad Mughniyeh held in the city of Hamadan on February
23, 2008, he stated that the “death of this unclean regime [گر کاپان میژر
نیا] [Israel] will arrive soon following the revolt of Muslims.�17

General Mohammad-Ali Jafari
Cancerous Microbe Israel – February 18, 2008

In a message to Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hizbullah, the
commander of the Revolutionary Guard, General Mohammad-Ali Jafari, wrote:
“In the near future, we will witness the destruction of the cancerous
microbe Israel [هموثرج ليئاسرا نياطسر] by the strong and capable hands of
the nation of Hizbullah.�18

Hizbullah: Iran’s Arm on Israel’s Northern Border

Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah
Gathering Jews in Israel makes it easier to kill them – October 22, 2002

In its founding political platform, Hizbullah makes it clear that it takes
its orders from Tehran: “We abide by the orders of one single wise and just
leadership, represented by ‘Wali al-Faqih’ and personified by Khomeini.�19
Hizbullah was founded in 1982 with the deployment of Iranian Revolutionary
Guard forces in Lebanon’s Biqa’ Valley and the training of its first Shiite
cadre. Hizbullah’s first governing council was established by the then
Iranian ambassador to Damascus, Ali Akbar Mohtashemi.20 Thus the positions
of Hizbullah are also an important indicator of Iranian intentions toward
Israel.

It is important, then, to take note of the statements of Nasrallah. In 2002,
he disclosed his own
organization’s genocidal intent when he declared:

Islamic prophecies and not only Jewish prophecies declare that this state
[Israel] will come into being, and all the Jews of the world will gather
from all corners of the world in occupied Palestine. But this will not be so
their false messiah [al-Dajjal] can rule in the world, but so that God can
save you the trouble of running them down all over the world. And then the
battle will be decisive and crushing.21

Recent Statements Continue Major Genocidal
Themes

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
The extinction of Israel is certain – February 8, 2010

Ayatollah Khamenei praised the role of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad
organization in the jihad
struggle and added:22

TRANSLATION

about the future of Palestine, and believe that Israel is moving down the
steep slope of decline and downfall, and with Allah’s will, its extinction
will be certain.

Khamenei quotes Khomeini in a speech honoring the anniversary of his death,
June 4, 2010:
The only remedy for a cancerous growth is to cut it out.23

TRANSLATION

Israel is a cancerous tumor. Well, what is done with a cancerous tumor?
Besides cutting out the tumor, what remedy
is there?… Imam [Khomeini] did not consider [the opinion] of anyone else.
This was his logic. This statement is not just a slogan!

Khamenei tweets in Persian…24
“Israel will be destroyed"– September 10, 2010

And in English…:25
September 2, 2010

8 The Iranian Leadership’s Continuing Declarations of Intent to
Destroy Israel
Key Khamenei Allies
To replace Israel in its entirety with a big holocaust — January 12, 2010

Mohammad Hassan Rahimian is Khamenei’s personal representative to one of the
main foundations (Bonyad) through which the Iranian regime provides
political patronage.
Interviewed on Al-Manar TV on January 12, 2010, he stated that “We have
manufactured missiles that allow us, when necessary, to replace [sic] Israel
in its entirety with a big holocaust.�26

Laying out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of
Israel

While not quoting Khamenei directly, on February 4, 2012, the conservative
website Alef, known for its ties with the Supreme Leader, featured an
article providing the legal and religious justification for the destruction
of Israel and the slaughter of its people. The article was repeated on the
website of the Revolutionary Guard.27

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Death to Israel — February 11, 2011

While in English Ahmadinejad’s sign says “Down with Israel,� in Persian and
Arabic it reads “Death to Israel,� February 11, 2011

The Zionists are extinctable – October 14, 201028

During a visit to Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, Ahmadinejad accused the West of being
behind a 9/11 conspiracy, and concluded his remarks:

TRANSLATION

The Zionists are extinctable, and the people of Bint Jbeil will give them
the taste of the bitter flavor of defeat, and will scatter the dust of
despair and hopelessness into the face of the enemies of humanity.

Israel, as insult to mankind, will disappear, Holocaust is a myth –
September 18,
2009

Ahmadinejad’s most virulent rhetoric is saved for the annual Jerusalem
(Qods) Day speech. Here
are some excerpts from the 2009 speech:29

You should know that this regime is on its way to dissolution. Do not attach
yourself to this regime. This regime is on its way to extinction – do not
tie your fate to these people.

The Zionist regime can cease to exist (or can be made to cease to exist).

Cleansing humanity of Israel – September 3, 201030

In his 2010 speech in September on Jerusalem Day. Ahmadinejad showed no sign
of moderating his
rhetoric:

To the West and the United States I propose a solution to the Palestine
issue: just as you created this evil Zionist regime through deception, I
suggest you take away this regime to wherever you want. You can give them
one of your own states or territories.

The Zionists have no power, and the Zionist regime is on a downward slide
toward collapse, and no ruse will save it.

Jerusalem will be liberated, the Zionists will cease to exist, and world
justice will prevail.

.دJerusalem Day [should] also be an arena for fighting the devil, and should
be a day for the cleansing of human society from the Zionists.

10 The Iranian Leadership’s Continuing Declarations of Intent to Destroy
Israel
Israel as tumor – May 15, 201131

TRANSLATION

The origin of the Zionist regime…is a cancerous infested tumor that even if
one of its cells remains in the region it will be infested, and this
situation will go on, this is why these cells must be extracted.

Iran is determined to eradicate Israel – August 25, 2011

“Iran believes that whoever is for humanity should also be for eradicating
the Zionist regime as a symbol of suppression and discrimination.�32

No place in the Middle East for cancerous cell Israel – Jerusalem Day
speech, August 26, 2011

“Israel will have no place in the Middle East after the establishment of a
Palestinian state. Establishing such a state will be the first step toward
liberating Palestine. The Zionist regime is a cancerous cell. A lab of
microbes. If it continues existing on even a sliver of Palestine, it will
rearm itself and harm the world.�33

Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi
Israel has activated the countdown to its extinction – June 1, 2010

Ahmad Vahidi has been Iran’s defense minister since August 2009. From 2005
to 2009 he was Ahmadinejad’s vice-president for defense affairs. Having
served in the Revolutionary Guard for more than ten years since 1980, he
reached the rank of brigadier general and commanded the Guard’s elite Qods
Force unit, responsible for terrorist activities and operations outside
Iran. An international Interpol warrant against him was issued by the
Argentinian authorities
for suspected involvement in the bombing of the Jewish community center
(AMIA building) in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, which left eighty-five
people dead.34

Iran can stand up to this wicked and dangerous creature – August 17, 2010

In a press conference he gave on Defense Industry Day, Vahidi unveiled the
Karar UAV bomber
and said regarding the threats from Israel:35

bTRANSLATION

The Zionist regime believes that it can directly confront the power of the
Islamic Republic, but today the Islamic Republic has the complete and
necessary ability to stand up to this wicked and dangerous creature, so that
no danger can emanate from it. Today we are prepared to teach them an
unforgettable lesson.

Israel has activated the countdown to its extinction – June 1, 201036

TRANSLATION

The Zionist regime has shown that it does not adhere to the most fundamental
principles of human rights…and with this action [defending its Gaza
blockade] it has activated the countdown to its extinction.

Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of
Iran’s Armed Forces
Zionists: Scream until your destruction – November 15, 201137

Born in 1951 in Mashhad, Firouzabadi has been chief of staff since 1989. He
was active against the Shah and was arrested by SAVAK. Following the
contested elections of 2009, Firouzabadi said that the army was ready to
protect the regime.

TRANSLATION
The Zionists, who do not have any fate but death, will continue screaming of
war until their destruction.

Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, commander of the Basij
Paramilitary Force
Pack your bags and leave. If not, the sea awaits you – February 11, 201138

Naghdi has commanded the Basij militia since October 2009.
He was born in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, moving to Iran
after the Islamic Revolution. He has announced that he plans to expand the
Basij until it has seven thousand bases throughout Iran.

TRANSLATION

Soon the siege on the Zionists will be complete, and the little breath they
still have left will be stifled. I recommend to the Zionists that in order
to stay alive they should pack their bags quickly and return to their
countries of origin. Because as soon as this siege is fully tightened, the
Palestinian revolutionaries will have no choice but to throw them into the
sea.

Israelis: Leave and save your lives – August 10, 2011

“Today Zionists are completely surrounded by the Mujahedin of Islam and we
advise them [Zionists]
to return to the countries of their origin soon to save their lives.�39

Ethnic cleansing: Zionists, pack your furniture, suitcases – August 25,
201140

TRANSLATION

We recommend them to pack their furniture and return to their countries. And
if they insist on staying, they should know that a time will arrive when
they will not even have time to pack their suitcases.

Commander of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayari
Killing the Zionists – June 29, 201141

TRANSLATION

The Zionists are nervous because of all the progress our country has made.
Therefore, we will display our capabilities by dispatching destroyers and
submarines until they kill them.

General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, missile scientist and IRGC officer

An Iranian website disclosed that senior IRGC officer Hassan
Tehrani-Moghaddam, who was killed in a blast in November
2011, requested in his last will that his epitaph would state: “A man is
buried here who wanted to destroy Israel.�42

14 The Iranian Leadership’s Continuing Declarations of Intent to Destroy
Israel
Mohsen Rafighdoost, former commander of the IRGC
Wishing for Israel’s demise – Jerusalem Day, August 26, 201143

TRANSLATION

With God’s help this will be the last year in the life of the Zionist
regime.

Sardar Yahya Safavi, chief adviser to the Supreme Leader for the Armed
Forces
Calling for Jihad – Jerusalem Day, August 26, 201144

TRANSLATION

Islamic opposition and continued jihad are the only way to liberate
Palestine.

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, IRGC Aerospace Force commander
Our missiles are aimed at U.S. forces and Israel – June 28, 201145

TRANSLATION

As I explained, our missile range is two thousand kilometers, and our main
enemies outside the region are the U.S. and Israel. We are not aware of
threats from other countries and so the range of our missiles has been
calculated according to the location of U.S. targets in the region and
Israel.

Rostam Ghasemi, minister of petroleum
Israel’s final days – Jerusalem Day, August 26, 201146

TRANSLATION

It would appear that the Israelis have understood that they are living their
final days. Inshallah [God willing] a Palestinian state will be established.

Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar
Destroying Israel – August 25, 201147

TRANSLATION

The Muslims in the world are now moving in a direction in which, with the
help of God, they will destroy the Zionist regime.

Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi
The coming destruction of Israel – December 12, 201048

TRANSLATION

In a meeting with the members of the
Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan, Ayatollah Shirazi said that the destruction
of Israel is drawing near.

Ayatollah Mohammadi, representative of the Supreme Leader in Hamadan
Province, and Friday prayer leader of the city of Hamadan
Israel on the way out – August 13, 201149

TRANSLATION

The Zionist regime is under siege at the moment and nearing annihilation.

Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan

Fars News Agency quoted the wife of the Iranian scientist, who was killed in
January 2012, stating that “Mostafa’s ultimate goal was the annihilation of
Israel.�50

16 The Iranian Leadership’s Continuing Declarations of Intent to Destroy
Israel
Former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki

The sign on the podium reads: “Imam Khomeini: If nations rise, Israel shall
be annihilated�
– Jerusalem Day, August 26, 2011

Iranian Military Parades

The Iranian Armed Forces regularly hold military parades in Tehran, which
are also an important indication of regime intent. Usually featured are
Iranian Shahab-3 missiles, which have a 1300- kilometer range that enables
them to strike Israel. In these parades, the Iranians frequently fix signs
on the transport vehicles carrying the missiles, which have read: “Israel
must be wiped off the map.� The Iranians have even translated the text into
English by themselves:

Footage from Tehran military parade, Channel 1 (Iran), IRINN TV (Iran),
September 22, 2004

Another variation of this theme was evident in last year’s military parade:

Footage of Shahab-3 missile transport vehicles on parade. Visible on the
front is a draped slogan stating “Israel Must Be Destroyed.� Iranian
Revolutionary Guard in Tehran, Islamic year 1389 (March 2010-March 2011)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZpLFvcJaIM

It is manifestly clear that the statements of Iran’s leaders continue to
constitute incitement to genocide of the people of Israel. They remain
alarmingly similar to the coded statements of incitement that preceded the
Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis in 1994,51 and should therefore alarm all
peace-loving people.

There is ample legal basis for the prosecution of Ahmadinejad and other
Iranian leaders in the International Court of Justice and the International
Criminal Court for direct and public incitement to commit genocide and
crimes against humanity.52

Israel should be wiped from the annals of history – Jerusalem Day, August
26, 2011

Kayhan (major Iranian daily): “Israel should be destroyed from the Nile to
the Euphrates.�
Jerusalem Day coverage, August 27, 2011

Notes

1 Joshua Teitelbaum, “What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing
Away with Israel: A Refutation of the Campaign to Excuse Ahmadinejad’s
Incitement to Genocide,� Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, November 2008.
2 Michael Axworthy, A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind (New York:
Basic Books, 2008),
313.
3 New York Times, May 24, 30; Reuters, June 1, 2011.
4 Washington Post, June 8; Reuters, June 9, 2011.
5 Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2011.
6
http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2011/gov2011-65.pdf.
7 http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5355.htm#_ednref1.
8
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-march-toward-a-nuclear-iran/2011/07/29/
gIQAFcypsI_story.html.
9 Iranian Students News Agency, October 26, 2005,
http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView. aspx?ID=News-603209 (no longer active). To
view a similar report on Ahmadinejad’s website (http://www.president.ir/fa),
it is necessary to enter the archive of presidential speeches according to
the Persian date, 4 Aban (8th month), 1384. Of the five items listed for
that day, the “World without Zionism� speech is first.
10 The New York Times’s nonliteral translation of Ahmadinejad’s call to
destroy Israel, as
“the occupying regime must be wiped off the map,� was picked up by many
world leaders opposed to the current regime. See Nazila Fathi’s translation,
New York Times, October 30,
2005. Fathi works at the Times’s Tehran bureau. She translated Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi’s book, The History and Documentation of Human
Rights in Iran, from Persian into English. Even the official IRIB news
agency reported in English that the president
had called for Israel to be “wiped off the map,�
http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_ id=204682&n=35 (no longer active,
but see screenshot at http://tilmantarach.blogspot. com/2010/01/iran.html.
My thanks to Tilman Tarach). President Ahmadinejad made a similar statement
in a speech honoring Ayatollah Khomeini on June 2, 2008. See the clip and
translation as monitored by MEMRITV at
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1784.htm, and the wire stories by IRNA, AFP,
AP, and Reuters, June 2, 2008.
11 “Iran Calls for the Destruction of Israel,� Intelligence and
Terrorism Information Center, Center for Special Studies, Special
Information Bulletin, November 2003, citing Khabar TV, December 14, 2000.
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/html/final/eng/bu/
iran/shihab_11_03.htm
See also “Iran Leader Urges Destruction of ‘Cancerous’ Israel,� CNN,
December 15, 2000,
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/12/15/mideast.iran.reut/. A similar
quotation in Persian is at
http://www.kheimeh.org/kheimeh/index.php?po=fulltext&op=1&pg=1&id=455.
12 “Iran Calls for the Destruction of Israel.�
13 Kasra Naji, Ahmadinejad: The Secret History of Iran’s Radical Leader
(Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 2008), 144.
14 Khabar TV, October 24, 2000,
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/html/
final/eng/bu/iran/shihab_11_03.htm.
15 Khabar TV, December 14, 2000,
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/html/
final/eng/bu/iran/shihab_11_03.htm.
16 http://www1.irna.com/fa/news/view/line-5/8612021449121206.htm,
http://www. taghribnews.com/tmain_fa.aspx?lng=fa&mode=art&artid=20992.
17 http://sepahnews.com/nEWS/uNew.aspx?id=8584&pid=0.
18 http://sepahnews.com/nEWS/uNew.aspx?id=8482&pid=0, February 18, 2008.
19 Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Center for Special
Studies, Hezbollah, Part
1 (Tel Aviv: Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, June 2003), 53.
Wali al-Faqih is the “Rule of the Jurisconsult.� Nasrallah referred again to
Hizbullah as the party of the Rule of the Jurisconsult in a speech on May
26, 2008. For the clip, see MEMRITV, http://www.
memritv.org/clip/en/1779.htm.
20 Martin Kramer, “Hizbullah in Lebanon,� The Oxford Encyclopedia of the
Modern Islamic
World, Vol. 2 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 130-133.
21 For a recording of the speech in Arabic, go to
http://audio.hizbollah.tv/details. php?cid=1&linkid=189. The Beirut Daily
Star reported on the speech and quoted Nasrallah: “If they (Jews) all gather
in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.�
“Nasrallah Alleges ‘Christian Zionist’ Plot,� Daily Star, October 23, 2002,
citing Nasrallah speech in the village of Haret Hreik on October 22. The
interpolation “Jews� is in the
original Daily Star text.
22 http://www.khabaronline.ir/news-42632.aspx.
23 http://leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=bayanat&id=6893.
24 http://twitter.com/#!/khamenei_ir/status/22819421324.
25 http://twitter.com/#!/khamenei_ir/status/22815824658.
26 “Senior Iranian Official Mohammad Hassan Rahimian: Our Missiles Can
Cause ‘Big Holocaust’ in Israel,� Al-Manar TV (Lebanon), January 12, 2010,
http://www.memritv.org/ clip/en/2342.htm.
27 http://www.alef.ir/vdcepw8zwjh8ewi.b9bj.html.
28 http://www.president.ir/fa/?ArtID=24593.
29 http://www.president.ir/fa/?ArtID=17819.
30 http://www.president.ir/fa/?ArtID=23576.
31 http://president.ir/fa/?ArtID=28176omes;
http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/164890
32 Haaretz, August 25, 2011, citing DPA.
33 http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/40337.htm, citing IRNA,
PressTV, Irib.ir, Farau.com.
34
http://www.interpol.int/Public/data/wanted/notices/data/2007/57/2007_49957.asp.
35
http://aftabir.com/news/2010/aug/17/c1c1282026452_politics_iran_ahmad_vahidi.php
36 http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8903100908.
37 http://www.ilna.ir/newsText.aspx?ID=162198.
38 http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1251153.
39 http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9005193117.
40 http://www.aftabnews.ir/vdcefx8zzjh8xwi.b9bj.html.
41 http://iranyar.ir/component/content/article/29169--90.html.
42 http://snn.ir/print-13900908066.aspx
43 http://goo.gl/fV56T.
44 http://gilan.basij.ir/?q=node/20109.
45 http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1346291.
46 http://www.ariansteel.com/AllFolders/News/IndustryNewsDetailes.
jsp?NewsID=69721&GID=1.
47 http://goo.gl/pmlYO.
48 http://goo.gl/hGYNd.
49 http://yjchmd.ir/newsDisplay.aspx?alias=News&news_id=26673.
50 “Wife Says Assassinated Iranian Scientist Wanted ‘Annihilation’ of
Israel,� Fars News
Agency, February 21,
http://www.google.co.il/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q
=Mostafa+Ahmadi+Roshan+Behdast
51 Gregory S. Gordon, "From Incitement to Indictement? Prosecuting
Iran's President for
Advocating Israel's Destruction and Piecing Together Incitement Law's
Emerging Analytical
Framework," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 98 (Spring 2008),
853-920.
52 Ibid.

About the Authors

Prof. Joshua Teitelbaum is principal research fellow at the Jerusalem Center
for Public Affairs. He is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History in the
Department of Middle Eastern Studies, and is senior fellow at the
Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University. Prof.
Teitelbaum holds visiting positions at the Hoover Institution and the Center
on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University. He
would like to thank the staff of Terrogence.com for their Persian
translation services.

Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael (Mickey) Segall, a former IDF military intelligence
officer and an expert on strategic issues with a focus on Iran, terrorism,
and the Middle East, is a senior analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public
Affairs.

Jerusalem Center Websites

www.jcpa.org (English) www.jcpa.org.il (Hebrew) www.jcpa-lecape.org (French)
www.jer-zentrum.org (German)
www.facebook.com/jerusalemcenter www.twitter.com/JerusalemCenter
www.youtube.com/TheJerusalemCenter

President - Dr. Dore Gold
Director General - Chaya Herskovic

Steering Committee:
Chairman - Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
Members - Prof. Rela Mintz Geffen Prof. Arthur I. Eidelman Zvi R. Marom
Prof. Yakir Plessner Prof. Shmuel Sandler Prof. Efraim Torgovnik

English - w w w .jcpa.or g | Hebr e w - w w w .jcpa.or g .il