LEFT: Sharon: A country that calls for the destruction of another people cannot be a member of the United Nations. RIGHT: President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - REUTERS
JERUSALEM (Reuters):
ISRAELI PRIME Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday Iran should be expelled from the United Nations after its president called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map".
President Mahmoud Ahma-dinejad's comments at a Tehran conference on Wednesday called "The World without Zionism", reported by the official Iranian news agency, drew condemnation from Western countries.
A statement from Sharon's office quoted him as saying: "A country that calls for the destruction of another people cannot be a member of the United Nations."
INTOLERABLE
Vice-Premier, Shimon Peres, said he might seek an official Israeli mandate to request Iran's expulsion from the United Nations, but admitted that such an outcome may be unlikely.
"I don't know if it has any chance of success. But it is something we must say. I don't think it is a matter of what one thinks is worthwhile or not. This is intolerable," Peres told Israel Radio.
Iran has refused to recognise Israel's right to exist and supports Palestinian militant groups such as the Islamic Jihad faction behind a suicide bombing that killed five Israelis on Wednesday.
Believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, Israel has joined the United States in urging international efforts to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons.
MILITARY FORCE
Iran says its nuclear programme is for energy needs only. Sharon has hinted that Israel could resort to military force against Iran if necessary.
"Such a country that has nuclear weapons is a danger, not only to Israel and the Middle East, but also to Europe," Sharon said in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The United States, Canada and three European countries condemned Ahmadinejad's comment. White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said: "It underscores the concerns we have about Iran's nuclear intentions."
