Barak at officers' school
Photo: Asaf Ravitz, Defense Ministry
Barak: True nature of Iran regime exposed
Following renewal of violence in Tehran, defense minister says regime poses threat to region, world
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that "the predatory nature of Tehran's regime has been exposed" and that Iran posed a threat to the region and the entire world.
Barak spoke at an officers' graduation ceremony following the renewal of violent clashes between reformists and security officials in Tehran, in which unofficial reports say at least four protestors have been killed.
"The recent developments in Iran are interesting and we must learn their meaning carefully," he said, adding that the Islamic Republic was behind "the dark fundamentalist wave enflaming enmity and terror and negating any reconciliation or progress towards peace".
The defense minister condemned relations upheld by Iran with Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. "It is striving for hegemony through the combination of terror, rockets, and the development of nuclear weapons," he said.
Barak told the novice officers that he would strive to protect Israel's interests and security. "There is an opportunity today to march towards the accomplishment of the vision of regional peace," he said. "The basic and necessary condition that really creates this option of viable peace is Israel's power."
He also spoke of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, and said that "not a day goes by that we don't examine what can and should be done to bring him home".
