Ahmadinejad: Israel too weak to attack nuclear facilities

Late supreme leader grand ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had declared the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan as Quds (Jerusalem) Day and called for mass rallies against Israel and in support of the Palestinians.

By The Associated Press

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told supporters across Iran on Friday that Israel and its allies were too weak to attack the Islamic nation's nuclear facilities, , as protesters gathered nationwide for anti-Israel rallies as part of the the 31st annual Al-Quds Day.

Ahmadinejad was quoted by the local IRNA news agency as saying in a pre-sermon address at Tehran University that Israel was endangering the dignity and culture of the world in its quest for survival and victory.

The late supreme leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, grand ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had declared the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan as Quds (Jerusalem) Day and called for mass rallies against Israel and in support of the Palestinians.

The rallies this year coincided with the first direct Middle East peace talks in almost two years, in Washington, where U.S. President Barack Obama was hosting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In his address, Ahmadinejad also also dismissed the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, saying the fate of Palestine would be decided in Palestine and through resistance and not in Washington.

According to Iranian state media, millions of people were expected to attend the state-run rallies throughout the country and voice their support for Palestinians and the "liberation of their lands from the Zionist regime's [Israel's] occupation."

"Today millions of people will shout out their will for liberation of the holy Quds from the devil's claw of Zionists," the Fars news agency reported.

Iran does not recognize Israel's sovereignty and said the only pragmatic option to resolve the Middle East conflict would be a referendum for all Palestinians, including the millions of refugees, to determine their fate.

Ahmadinejad on Wednesday predicted that the talks in Washington would once again fail because the main demand of the Palestinian people, which is an end to the Israeli occupation, was once again not being considered.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Friday described the Washington meeting as "futile compromise talks" and told ISNA news agency that "the Palestinians were smarter than being deceived by this kind of theatre."

Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told state television Friday that "the dilemma could not be settled by theatrics staged in Washington as the Palestinian issue was not a toy but a very serious matter which solely had one solution: giving Palestinians back their rights."

During the rallies, the pro-government Basij militia group was to distribute two video games as an effort to reach the younger generation and expose "Zionists' crimes and atrocities in Palestine," state TV reported.