After the global outcry over comments by President Ahmadinejad that ‘Israel should be wiped off the map’ and ‘the goal of a world without the United States or Zionism is attainable,’ Tehran has gone on the diplomatic offensive. It argues, according to this article from the Islamic Republic News Agency, that it has been under threat from Israel and the United States for years.

Ahmadinejad: Hating Zionists, Loving the Crowd

Tehran: The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement here Saturday on the recent threats hurled by the United States and officials of the Zionist regime against Iran, and asked the U.N. Security Council to appropriately act against such threats.

The statement also pointed to recent remarks made by American Vice President Dick Cheney and the Zionist regime's officials about the possibility of using force against Iran, and said that "the Iranian nation and the world at large asks of the Security Council, how many sessions it has held to investigate and act on similar threats against U.N. member states, and why it hasn’t passed appropriate resolutions condemning these threats."

It called on the Security Council to condemn the "repeated crimes" of the Zionist regime, in particular, the "massacre and terror agaisnt the Palestinians."

"If, for whatever reason, the Security Council is unable to redress the grievances of the Palestinian nation, it should at least pass the appropriate resolution to condemn the repeated commission, particularly over recent days, of crimes like the bombardment of Palestinian areas and homes and the massacre of innocent women and children, upon the direct orders of this terrorist regime."

The statement further said that the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the situation in the Occupied Territories was clearly expressed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the 60th session of the U.N. General Assembly, to wit:

"In Palestine, a durable peace will be possible through justice, an end to discrimination and occupation of Palestinian lands, the return of all Palestinian refugees, and the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state with Al-Qods al-Sharif [Jeruselum] as its capital." The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to its obligations under the United Nations Charter and has never used or threatened to use force against any other state.

— UNITED NATIONS VIDEO: Iranian President Ahmadinejad's Speech [Condi Walks Out], Sept. 17, 00:29:07

Regrettably, the Security Council has a bleak record in responding to the use of force or aggression against Iran, by Saddam Hussein as well as the repeated threats of Israel and some permanent Security Council members, who often enjoy the illegal “option” of using the threat or use of force as an instrument of national policy.

Following the American attack and invasion of Iraq in March 2003, leading global media outlets, based on sources within the Zionist regime, published news of the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites. Senior officials of the regime didn’t bother to deny these reports.

The ministry's statement cited the following reports as follows:

1. Israel Radio announced on February 20, 2004, that the regime's F16 fighters could target all parts of Iran.

2. Scotland on Sunday newspaper on November 24, 2003 wrote: Israeli officials told the United States they were ready to attack Iran as it did in the case of Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981.

3. The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, in a report on October 11, 2003, said that the Israeli Air Force was ready to attack the Islamic Republic News Agency, adding that the Air Force had completed a plan to attack Iran's facilities, that could be executed by order of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

4. The Washington Post on August 17, 2003, published a report on a meeting held between Sharon and President George W. Bush during which the Israeli leader called for a U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear power plant in Bushehr.

5. The New York Sun newspaper on October 8, 2005, said threats by the Israel prime minister against Iran were among the best news it had yet covered.

6. The Los Angeles Times in a report on October 24, 2005, wrote about the possibility of a U.S. attack on Iran, saying that Sharon and his senior assistants had, over recent months, used ambiguous but precise language whish is tantamount to a threat to resort to force.

7. Austrian Die Presse daily on April 13, 2005, wrote: Israel has revealed that the United States would use military means to put a stop to Iran's atomic programs.

8. The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan on August 14, 2005, said segments of the Zionist regime's Air Force were ready to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

9. Turkey's Milliyet daily on September 24, 2005 said an Israeli parliamentary delegation that visited the United States called for an attack on Iran.

10. The Arab-language Al-Jazeera TV channel, on February 22, 2005, said Israeli Air Force Commander-in-Chief Major General Eliezer Shakedi urged Ariel Sharon to keep the regime's armed forces on alert for an attack on Iran.

11. Israel's Haaretz newspaper, on November 24, 2003, quoted Israeli Defense Minister Shaol Mofaz as claiming that Israel would bombard Iran if necessary. He, moreover, said that after Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States has two other important missions - Iran and Syria.

12. Reuters, on April 29, 2003, said: Israeli Ambassador to Washington Danny Ayalon called for regime change in Iran and Syria.

13. According to the IRNA bureau in New York, Vice President Dick Cheney in a telephone conversation on January 31, 2005, spoke of the possibility of an Israeli military attack on Iran, and said that Washington was concerned that the Zionist regime might attack Iran, with or without a request from Washington to do so.

The above-reported cases are among the clear instances that the Zionist and certain permanent members of the Security Council have threatened the use of force against the Islamic Republic and certain Muslim.

According to Iran: The Real Threats