Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi threatened to destroy Israeli cities during a speech on Tuesday marking Iran’s National Army Day.
Tehran’s military celebration came as world Jewry marked Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“The enemies of Iran, specifically the Zionist regime, have gotten the message that the smallest hostile move will draw a severe response from the Iranian Armed Forces and will lead to the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv,” Raisi said.
Haifa and Tel Aviv are two of the largest population centers in Israel.
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, meanwhile, was in Israel attending the ceremonies marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Pahlavi said during his visit that the Islamic Republic does not represent the majority of the Iranian people and emphasized his prayer for the end of the mullahs’ regime and the revival of ties between his country and Israel.
The European Jewish Congress also responded, calling on European states to immediately impose sanctions on Iran.
“Threats to wipe out millions of Jews in Israel must automatically disqualify nation states from any form of diplomatic welcome or trade relations in the civilized world,” said EJC President Dr. Ariel Muzicant.
“To make such vile threats as Jews gather to mark Yom HaShoah shows the callous contempt the Iranian regime has for any forms of diplomatic norms.
“Eighty years after the last attempt to wipe out Jews from the world, it is time for European countries to respond in an appropriate manner to Iran by implementing serious diplomatic and economic sanctions against this terror regime,” he added.
The EJC also called on the European Union to place Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on to its official list of terror organizations.
“The IRGC involves itself on a daily basis in terror activities both on its own and in support of many terror groups across the Middle East and elsewhere, including Hamas and Hezbollah,” he said.
“The words “Never Again” are not just some slogan we whisper every Holocaust Memorial Day,” Muzicant said.
“They have meaning. The world must never stand by again when a state commits itself to wiping out Jews, builds up the resources to make that a potential reality and then directly threatens to carry it out.
“The world must react this time before Jews are mass murdered, not merely hold ceremonies in their memory.”
