By Jerusalem Post

Senior Iranian official says Netanyahu's speech at the UN General Assembly set off "an explosion of jokes and mockery" among diplomats; adds: PM intimidated by Iran's dignity into formulating such silly reactions.

Pointing to a stillshot of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu drawing a red line on a caricature of a bomb, a senior Iranian official said Sunday that the entire world was laughing at Israel, Iran's semi-official FARS news agency reported.

"The fake regime of Israel is mocked by everyone in the world today, although such cheap actions of the leaders of the occupying Zionist regime are nothing new,"  said Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Expatriates' Affairs Hassan Qashqavi.

Netanyahu utilized a unique approach during his address at the 67th United Nations General Assembly Debate on Thursday, displaying a diagram of a bomb and then physically drawing a red line on it. The prime minister was attempting to convince the international community to set clear red lines on Iran's illicit nuclear program.

Speaking at a ceremony in Iran's southern city of Kangan, Qashqavi said that Netanyahu's cartoon set off "an explosion of jokes and mockery" at the UNGA. He added that the prime minister was intimidated by Iran's dignity and might into formulating such silly reactions, according to FARS.

While some have skewered Netanyahu for his “Looney Tunes” bomb graphic, the prime minister said over the weekend his goal was achieved: to get the world talking about red lines for Iran.

Netanyahu, in interviews from New York with Israeli television networks, said his objective was to translate the principle of setting red lines on Iran into simple, practical terms. “This is resonating today around the world,” he said.

“Hundreds of millions of people saw it and understand now what they perhaps did not understand beforehand – what it means to stop Iran, at what phase and what stage of its nuclearization. The red line needs to be before Iran finishes the second stage of enriching the material it needs for an atomic bomb.”

 

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