IRI's FM: Israel has no choice but to collapse

IRI's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that the Zionist regime is aggressive by nature.

"Kidnapping is part of the aggressive nature of a regime that is supported by the world's arrogant powers. This regime has been fabricated in the very heart of the Middle East and established illegitimately to serve the long-term political interests of those powers," Mottaki said in Tehran Saturday.

He was speaking at a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the abduction by Israel of four Iranian diplomats in Beirut 26 years ago.

"Assassination, abduction, occupation, brutal bombardment of civilians, incessant killing of innocent people and attacking the lands of others are integral parts of the Israeli regime," he added.

"The Israeli regime, the US and their regional puppets have been doing their level best to uproot the newly planted sapling of peace and justice which were the fruit of the common efforts of the Iranian and Lebanese peoples," he said.

He called on the new Lebanese government, its president and parliament speaker to use all their possibilities to clear up the fate of the abducted Iranian diplomats.

Regional peoples do not recognize Israel

Mottaki has said that regional nations have refused to recognize the imposed Israeli regime.

"Numerous studies so far conducted show that, based on known criteria of statehood, the peoples of the region have not recognized the fake, illegal and imposed existence of the Israeli regime," Mottaki said.

The minister made the statement while addressing a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the abduction in Beirut of four Iranian diplomats 26 years ago.

The four diplomats, including charge d'affaires Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi and his three companions, Ahmad Motevasselian, Kazem Akhavan and Taqi Rastegar were abducted at a checkpoint in Beirut in July 1982. They were reportedly handed over to the Israeli military forces as Beirut was occupied by the Israeli regime at the time.

The history of the Israeli regime and that of its main supporter in the region, the United States of America, has been full of many such criminal acts, Mottaki said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran regards the Zionist regime and the US as the leading culprits in the inhuman act of abduction of its diplomats," he added.

The minister expressed regret that the Israeli regime and the US have so far refused to provide a response to efforts by international organizations and world countries to clear up the fate of the abducted Iranian diplomats. 

Israel, US lack capacity to start new crisis

Mottaki says Israel and the United States lack the capacity to start a new military crisis in the region.

"If the US and Israel opt for military action on Iran, we will give them a crushing response," Mottaki told IRNA in the northern Iranian port city of Bandar Gaz on Friday.

In early July, foreign media released reports of a possible strike against Iran's nuclear facilities following an Israeli military maneuver off the southern Mediterranean Island of Crete.

He stressed that Iran is fully prepared to defend its principles and its territorial integrity, citing the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88, which, among other things, helped Iran achieve self-sufficiency in its military industries.

Israel continues to face the consequences of its 2006 war against Lebanon, while the US has no capacity to start a new crisis in the Persian Gulf, Mottaki said.

The US and Israeli claim that Iran intends to build nuclear bombs but Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran is legally entitled to acquire and develop nuclear technology for civilian purposes.

"The recent successful war games by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the test-firing of advanced Iranian-made missiles showed the potential and capacity of the Islamic Republic and its scientists," the Iranian foreign minister added.

The IRGC test-fired new long and medium-range missiles on Wednesday on the second day of an extensive military exercise titled The Great Prophet III in response to recent threats from the US and Israel.