In an exclusive interview with the Jewish News Agency (Agencia Judía de Noticias, AJN) Aznar assured that “Venezuela is the entrance door to Iran in the region”.
According to the former PM, governments like that of Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro (Cuba) “prefer to associate against history, needs, and the future”.
“Standing by Ahmadineyad and the Ayatollah is a historical mistake”, noted Aznar, who added that “we must not forget that Iran is a regime, an autocratic dictatorship, which subordinates its People and which threatens, continuously, the State of Israel.”
Nevertheless, Aznar warned that “Iran’s nuclear program is a threat for the entire planet. Lots of people blame Israel, that is normal, but not fair”.
Spain’s ex PM noted that “extreme Islamism is a concrete threat which is materialized everyday. That is why, in order to defend the situation, we need moral authority, courage and determination.”
Aznar defended the democratic character of Israel. “We want, for our countries, prosper and healthy democracies. We don’t want them to be threatened and we do want that countries like Iran to be as democratic as we wish for our (countries),” he stressed.
“Nowadays, we know that Israel is a democracy that if threatened, we will feel threatened”.
The Friends of Israel have joined together in a new international initiative on the basis of the following convictions: Israel is a Western country, Israel´s right to exist should not be questioned, Israel, as a sovereign country, has the right to self-defense, Israel is on our side, We believe in peace, but peace in the Middle East is not just about Israel and the Palestinians, We share the same threats and challenges.
Its founders are Jose Maria Aznar, George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington; Alejandro Toledo, President of Peru (2001.2006); Marcello Pera, Italian philosopher an politician (He was the President of the Italian Senate from 2001 to 2006); David Trimble , politician; Andrew Roberts, British historian and writer; Ambassador John R. Bolton, Permanent US Representative to the UN from August 2005 until December 2006, he is currently a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI); Carlos Bustelo, served as the Spanish Minister of Industry from 1977-1980. He was a President of the Madrid Court of Jurisdiction until December, 2009; Roberto F. Agostinelli, Managing Director of Rhône Group and an international French financier. He built up Goldman Sachs? M&A business in London, then finally became a Lazard partner in 1987; and Fiamma Nirenstein, An Italian politician, journalist and author. She is a member of Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative coalition government (first elected in April 2008) and is Vice-president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
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