Russia’s foreign minister slams Iranian threats to destroy Israel

“We have stated many times that we won’t accept the statements that Israel, as a Zionist state, should be destroyed and wiped off the map,” Lavrov declared.

By: Adina Katz, World Israel News

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned Iranian threats to wipe Israel off the map, Russia’s TASS News Agency reported.

Speaking at the opening of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s conference, titled “Russia in the Middle East: Playing on All Fields,” Lavrov said, “”We have stated many times that we won’t accept the statements that Israel, as a Zionist state, should be destroyed and wiped off the map. I believe this is an absolutely wrong way to advance one’s own interests.”

He added, however, that the regional conflicts and instability should not be solely focused on Iran.

“By the same token, we oppose attempts to view any regional problem through the prism of fighting Iran. This is happening in Syria, Yemen and even the latest developments around the Palestinian issue, including Washington’s announcement of its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, are largely motivated by this anti-Iranian stance,” he claimed.

Yet Israel considers Iran the biggest threat to the Jewish state and to the region. At a conference last month at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot pointed to five different fronts that he sees as Israel’s biggest security challenges – Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Gaza and Sinai – but added that Iran has a hand in all those threats.

“Above those five fronts there is one big and prominent threat, which is the Iranian threat,” Eizenkot said. “It is a multi-tiered threat, with the first and central aspect being their striving to achieve nuclear capabilities. The second aspect is their aspiration for regional hegemony and influence and their desire to create a Shiite crescent that extends from Iran to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon [in the north], as well as Bahrain, Yemen and Gaza in the south.”