Jose Maria Aznar says Russian leader made comments when justifying sale of S300 missiles to Tehran; Aznar also recounts meeting with Khamenei, who allegedly said an open confrontation with Israel, US "inevitable.”
(JPost) Don’t worry about Iran, Israel will take care of it, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as telling him years ago.
Aznar, speaking Wednesday at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs on a meeting he had with the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2002, said Putin’s comments came after he entreated him not to sell S300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.
“We can sell them anything,” Aznar quoted Putin as saying, because in the end “Israel will take care of it.”
Aznar, one of the few western leaders to have met Khamenei, said the Iranians made it clear when they met in October 2000, that “Israel was a historic cancer and an anomaly condemned to disappear.” [...]
Aznar said that during their conversation Khamenei said that “an open confrontation with Israel and the US was inevitable,” and that “he was working for Iran to prevail in such a confrontation. “
Aznar said that Khamenei made clear during their conversation that “it was necessary to eliminate the threat Israel posed." The former Spanish prime minister said this obviously meant Khamenei believed Israel must be “removed."
