'Moderate' Rohani: 'Zionist regime a wound on the body of the Islamic world... and should be removed'

So much for the 'moderate' Hassan Rohani who becomes President of Iran on Sunday. In a statement to Iranian television on Friday, he said that “The Zionist regime has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world for years and the wound should be removed,”

Let's go to the videotape. More after the (Persian language) video.



Prime Minister Netanyahu responds:

Netanyahu said in a statement that Rohani, who won a landslide victory in Iran’s June 14 presidential election and is seen by some Western analysts as more moderate than his predecessor, had “revealed his true face sooner than expected.”

“This is what the man is thinking and this is the Iranian regime’s plan of action,” Netanyahu said in a statement Friday. “This statement should awaken the world from the illusion some have taken to entertaining since the elections in Iran.

That statement could be seen as being aimed at U.S. President Obama and a number of U.S. lawmakers who have said Rohani’s expressed willingness to make Iran’s nuclear program more transparent should be tested.

“The president was replaced but the goal of the regime remained obtaining nuclear weapons to threaten Israel, the Middle East and the safety of the world,” Netanyahu said. “A country which threatens to destroy Israel must not have weapons of mass destruction.”

Rohani made the statement at the annual 'Quds day' rally in Tehran. 'Quds' day is a day of rallies against Israel throughout the Islamic world and is held on the last Friday of Ramadamadan.