Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 30
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
An Iranian official has rejected the recent comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran during his UN speech in New York on Sept. 29.
"All we heard from Netanyanu was nothing but lies," a member of Iran's delegation to the UN said, the Islamic Republic's official IRIB news agency reported Sept. 30.
In his speech at the 69th annual session of the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu called Iran a greater "threat" than the Islamic State (IS) group operating in Syria and Iraq.
Netanyahu warned the United Nations that a nuclear-armed Tehran would pose a far greater threat than "militant Islamists on pickup trucks."
He said all Muslim militants, including those from the Islamic State, Hamas, al-Qaida and Boko Haram, share the same fanatical idealism and that Iran could be their power base.
The Iranian diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Netanyahu tried to diverse the public opinion from Israel's "crimes", bringing up Iranophobia and Islamophobia.
The diplomat also rejected concerns over Iran's nuclear program which is "under international surveillance."
The U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also expressed disagreement over Israeli prime minister's speech.
Psaki said that the US would like Iran to reintegrate into the international community by showing that their nuclear program is peaceful. She also noted that the United States does not agree with Netanyahu's characterization of all Islamists.
Psaki said while Hamas and Islamic State are both terrorist groups, they pose different threats and no one is suggesting the U.S. use force against Hamas.