But Lavrov said he didn’t really believe the Islamic Republic had any intention of eliminating Israel from the map and simply issues such threats to draw support from extremist Arabs in the region.
Lavrov said threats to destroy Israel were “quite unrealistic” because the destruction of Israel would also mean the destruction of Palestine. But that would only be true if one were to use nuclear weapons, which Russia says it does not believe Iran is seeking.
Lavrov said Russia “categorically condemns the absolutely unacceptable statements regarding Israel” that have been “voiced in Tehran by the president and other officials.”
Actually, Iran has never threatened to destroy Israel. The standard phrase, which originated with Ayatollah Khomeini more than two decades ago, states that Israel “must be eliminated from the page of existence,” using a literal word-for-word translation. It does not say that Iran will do the eliminating, although that is the common view around the world.
Lavrov said a threat to wipe out another country “is simply uncivilized and not worthy of an ancient country like Iran, of such an ancient people with their great culture.”
He said he suspected this to be “rhetoric aimed at achieving domestic aims and aims within the Islamic world…. This is an effort to keep those on whom the Iranians rely in the region on an anti-Israeli course.”