General Assembly
Sixty-first session
Agenda items 13, 44 and 100

The situation in the Middle East

Culture of peace

Measures to eliminate international terrorism
Security Council
Sixty-second year



		Identical letters dated 6 June 2007 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed 
to the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council


	I write with regard to yet another alarming and vicious statement made by the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, threatening the destruction of Israel. 
	In a speech delivered this past Sunday, 3 June 2007, President Ahmadinejad said, “With God’s help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon and Palestine”. The remarks were repeated in subsequent broadcasts on Iranian television. 
	There is no excuse for such a belligerent and provocative statement to be made by any world leader. Indeed, it is appalling that the leader of a United Nations Member State would even call for the destruction of another Member State. This outrageous comment contradicts the international community’s efforts to instil peace and security in the Middle East and to strive for a world of harmony and understanding. 
	Regrettably, this is not the first time I write to you about President Ahmadinejad’s menacing and harmful rhetoric. In the past, he has threatened the State of Israel and denied the Holocaust, all while Iran ominously develops a military nuclear weapons programme. Iran’s posturing shows its disregard for the international community and runs contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and the ideals and ethos of this institution. It is the obligation of Member States to unequivocally denounce and oppose these statements. Such maliciousness and defamation must not be tolerated. 
	I should be grateful if you would circulate the present letter as a document of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, under agenda items 13, 44 and 100 and of the Security Council. 
(Signed) Dan Gillerman
Ambassador
Permanent Representative








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 United Nations
A/61/943–S/2007/335
 
 General Assembly
Security Council
Distr.: General
7 June 2007

Original: English


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