Israel complains to UN over Iranian general's remarks

The Foreign Ministry instructed the Israeli delegation to the UN on Monday to issue a letter of complaint and protest to the president of the Security Council regarding the comments made by General Mohammad Ali Jaafari, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The Iranian general sent a letter of condolences to Hizbullah saying he believed "the cancerous bacterium called Israel" would vanish soon, according to report by the Iranian news agency Fars on Monday.

"Jaafari's remarks express hope for the destruction of Israel. This is an anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic and racist remark," the Ministry said in a statement.

"We hope that the Security Council will address Israel's complaint and will publish a letter of condemnation as it has done twice in the past (2005 and 2006) following statements made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Israel's destruction and Holocaust denial," Rony Adam, Director of the Department for UN affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said.

"This is a shameful and unprecedented comment and a UN member state cannot say things like this about another member. This is a grave and blatant transgression of the UN charter," Adam said.

The Foreign Ministry noted that the latest Iranian commentary was over the line and bordered on anti-Semitism reminiscent of the Nazis. "We haven't seen things like this in a long time," a ministry official said.

"This is an unparalleled remark and our job is to go out and defend ourselves and protest. We are not used to doing this everyday but this time it was something especially grave."

In the letter comforting Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah over the death of the "shahid" (martyr) Imad Mugniyah, Jaafari wrote, "there is no doubt that the death of this loyal fighter will strengthen the determination of all the revolutionary and warrior Muslims in their battle against the Zionist regime, and particularly the determination of those fighting alongside this shahid."

Mugniyah was considered close to the Revolutionary Guards, and particularly to the Quds Force, which was recently designated by the United States as a supporter of terror. Together they trained Hizbullah fighters in Lebanon and Iran and planned terror attacks worldwide.

Upon hearing of Mugniyah's death, the Iranian leaders, headed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sent cards and letters of condolence to Nasrallah.

Roni Sofer contributed to this report