Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1497522
15 WORLD maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 APRIL 2023 Iran threatens to destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa, as Israel marks Holocaust memorial day IRAN'S president threatened on Tuesday to flatten Tel Aviv and Haifa, as Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, and a day after Prime Minis- ter Benjamin Netanyahu called the Islamic Republic the mod- ern-day equivalent of Nazi Germany. The comments by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi came as the country marked its an- nual Army Day with fighter jets and helicopters flying overhead in Tehran, and Iranian subma- rines sailing across its waters during a ceremony carried live by state television. The day celebrates Iran's regular military, not its para- military Revolutionary Guard, whose expeditionary forces op- erate across the wider Mideast and aid Iranian-allied terror groups like Lebanon's Hezbol- lah. The Guard also routinely has tense encounters with the US Navy. Speaking at the ceremony, Raisi threatened Israel, which is suspected of carrying out a series of attacks targeting Iran's nuclear and military sites since the collapse of its deal with world powers. "Enemies, particularly the Zionist regime, has receive the message that any tiny ac- tion against (our) country will prompt a harsh answer from the armed forces, which will accompany the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv," Raisi said. Raisi also reiterated a demand for the US to leave the Mid- east. American policy since the Carter administration has viewed protecting the Persian Gulf region as crucial to se- curing global energy supplies. A fifth of the world's supply of oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. While not specifically naming Saudi Arabia, Raisi did offer an olive branch in his remarks as Tehran seeks a détente with the kingdom. "The hand of our armed forc- es warmly shakes the hand of the regional nations that in- tend to create security in the region," the president said. In March, Iran and Saudi Ara- bia agreed to reestablish dip- lomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions, a diplomatic agree- ment reached in China. In the time since, Saudi Arabia also has been involved in a prison- er swap with Yemen's Irani- an-backed Houthi rebels, with hopes such a deal could see an end to that country's years- long proxy war. Speaking at a Yad Vashem national ceremony to mark the start of Holocaust Re- membrance Day on Monday evening, Netanyahu likened today's Iran to Nazi Germany as an entity currently repre- senting an existential threat to the Jewish people, repris- ing a theme from his previous speeches for the same occasion. Netanyahu said that the calls to exterminate the Jewish peo- ple have not stopped, and today come from Iran. He stressed that past victories do not guar- antee future wins, saying Israel must be able to "defend itself by itself against any enemy, any threat." Among those in the audi- ence at Yad Vashem was Reza Pahlavi, the son of the West- ern-backed Iranian ruler over- thrown in the Islamic Revolu- tion, who is in Israel for a visit. Residing in the US, he has called for a peaceful revolution that would replace clerical rule with a parliamentary monarchy, enshrine human rights and mod- ernize its state-run economy. Israel and Iran maintained close relations — particularly on energy and security — dur- ing the reign of shah Moham- mad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in a popular 1979 uprising led by Islamist clerics. Holocaust Remembrance Day is one of the most solemn dates on the Israeli calendar. The country grinds to a halt for two minutes for a siren to commemorate the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi gen- ocide. Survivors typically attend re- membrance ceremonies where they share their stories, and some participate in memorial marches at former concentra- tion camps in Europe. President Raisi says 'any tiny action' will lead to the destruction of Israeli cities, a day after Netanyahu called the Islamic Republic the modern-day equivalent of Nazi Germany Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi threatened Israel as the country marked the annual army day in Tehran on April 18, 2023