Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammad Najjar said Monday that the best way to obtain security and a sustainable peace in the Middle East is the disarmament of Israel of nuclear weapons, Iranian news agency Mehr reported.
Regarding the harming of civilians in populated areas in Lebanon, the Iranian defense minister said that the "the end of Zionist war criminals and their supporters will be worse than Hitler and Saddam."
The minister said that the "popular resistance in Lebanon and Palestine struck a number of strategic targets in Israel and the United States." He added the "Lebanese and the Palestinians showed that once again that no weapon, even nuclear weapons, can stand against the will for freedom and independence."
Addressing the war in Lebanon, the Syrian minister said that "this war is not only against Hizbullah and the popular Lebanese and Palestinian resistance – but against peace and international security."
'Incidents in Lebanon, Palestine affecting our evaluations'
He said that unity between the Muslim countries could prevent a repetition of such incidents in the future.
"For the leaders of the United States and the Zionist regime every crime they are committing is legitimate so that Israel rules the Arab and Muslim Middle East," he said.
The comments by the Iranian defense ministry were made against the background of the deepening of the crisis between Iran and the international community due to Tehran's lateness in responding to the forum of six nations on whether I will agree to cease enriching uranium in exchange for a package of economic incentives.
On Monday, the UN Security Council is expected to present Iran with an ultimatum, according to which if it does not end its nuclear activities within a month, the Council will meet to discuss applying sanctions on it.
In an unusual step, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad linked Iran's delay in deciding on the package of incentives to the events in the Middle East, and added that "the incidents in Lebanon and Palestine are affecting our evaluations."