Peretz: Iran wants to combine nuclear threat with northern front

In Channel 10 interview, defense minister says Hizbullah is Iran's commando unit in Lebanon. If events would have taken place in one year things would have been more complicated, he says

Ynet|Published: 08.02.06 , 23:05

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Wednesday that Israel's military offensive against Hizbullah "exposed what Iran really planned."

Speaking to Israel's Channel 10 TV Peretz said if the offensive were to have been launched a year from now it would have been much more complex because "they (Hizbullah) would have been combined with a nuclear threat which is being developed in Iran."

He said Iran would be willing to send troops to Lebanon, which would make it more complicated for Israel to fight Hizbullah.

Peretz stressed the importance of the operation.

He said Hizbullah made a strategic mistake when it executed Iran's orders to attack Israeli soldiers on July 12, an attack which claimed the lives of eight soldiers and led to the capture of two others, because it didn't expect Israel to launch a large-scale operation.

Turning point

Asked about Hizbullah's seemingly unharmed rocket firing capability with the Shiite group managing to fire over 210 rockets into Israel on Thursday, Peretz said the intensity of the attack proves that Israel is fighting for its existence but promised that a turning point in the battle is closer than ever.

Peretz said that Israel will not be pressured to end the operation despite intensifying international calls for a ceasefire, adding that the United States is fully backing Israel.

"I believe that the United States is giving us all the support, but we will not make decision about our military offensive based on pressure – be it the Americans or the Europeans," he said.

Peretz said the success of Israel's military operation against Hizbullah will create the necessary conditions for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

He said Israel's strategy of "turning a blind eye" to Hizbullah's rocket arsenal and belief that the group would not jeopardize years of economic growth and reconstruction in Lebanon by provoking Israel proved erroneous as the Shiite proved it is indifferent to the country's economic interests.