Repeating the Iranian mantra, an official called for Israel’s destruction even as negotiations regarding its nuclear program are underway.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves while attending a meeting with a group of environmental officials and activists at his residence in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March, 2015. (AP/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader)

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader)

A ranking Iranian official close to Iran’s Supreme Leader stated that the Tehran government has “divine permission to destroy Israel,” Fars News reported on Wednesday.

Mojtaba Zolnour, who is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s deputy representative to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), said, “The Noble Koran permits the Islamic Republic of Iran to destroy Israel.”

Zolnour clarified that this was an Iranian objective, with or without nuclear weapons. “Even if Iran gives up its nuclear program, it will not weaken this country’s determination to destroy Israel,” he was quoted as saying by Al Arabiya.

In November, Khamenei tweeted an infographic, titled “9 key questions about elimination of Israel,” explaining why and how the State of Israel should be destroyed.

Responding to these threats, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chastised the world for their silence. “These statements are being heard by the representatives taking part in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, and the talks continue as normal,” Netanyahu stated.

“We need to stand firm to prevent the Iranians from using weapons of mass destruction to carry out their will against Israel,” Netanyahu said while speaking at a special V-Day ceremony in the Knesset on Wednesday, marking 70 years since the capitulation of the Nazis to the Soviet Union.

Iran has repeatedly and openly threatened to eliminate Israel and “wipe it off the face of the map.” Most recently, Iran marked its annual Army Day in April, which celebrates the establishment of the Islamic Republic’s military, with a display of weaponry and calls for death to Israel and America.

By: Max Gelber, United with Israel

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