Iranian declarations calling for Israel’s destruction are being voiced by a broad spectrum of the Iranian leadership, including different senior officers in the Revolutionary Guard. Just this week (May 20, 2012), Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi stated: “The Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel.” These spokesmen are not talking about a long historical process regarding Israel’s elimination, but rather a development that is to take place in the near term. These calls for the destruction of Israel for the most part are not made in the context of an Iranian retaliatory strike, and are not contingent upon what actions Israel will take.Thus the problem is not just President Ahmadinejad, who will be out of office when his term ends in 2013, but rather with the entire present-day Iranian leadership.  In this study, Prof. Joshua Teitelbaum and IDF LTC (ret.) Michael Segall detail Iranian statements on the destruction of Israel from the last few years.

Full Text: “The Iranian Leadership’s Continuing Declarations of Intent to Destroy Israel.” Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. May 2012.

Ahmadinejad Iran Israel Revolutionary Guard