Peres: Iran wants to rule the region

Recent language from Teheran is "unacceptable" and, contrary to its repeated denials, Iran is developing a nuclear bomb and wishes to rule the Mideast, President Shimon Peres told a meeting of the Foreign Press Association yesterday.

Peres speaks during a press conference for the foreign media at his Jerusalem residence.
Photo: AP

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The main purpose of the meeting was to outline details of the convention that Peres will be hosting in Jerusalem on May 13-15, but reporters were more interested in Peres's views on other issues - specifically Iran and Hamas.

Peres said Iran trained and financed terrorism, but while the situation with Iran was more complicated than with the Nazis, because "Hitler didn't have nuclear weapons," he did not advocate military action as a preventive measure. He was still convinced that united action on the part of the world community could be just as persuasive.

A Swiss reporter quoted an AP report stating that Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey had expressed disappointment that no member of her country's government had been invited to attend the convention celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary and asked the president if the absence of an invitation was in reaction to Calmy-Ray's recent visit to Iran.

 

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