Presidential challenger Mitt Romney is leading a Republican charge to prompt the Obama administration to take decisive action against Iran following leader Mahmoud Ahmedinejad “outrageous” claim that Israel is an “insult to humankind.”
The time now has come for the United States to “lead the world in stopping Iran's genocidal regime from obtaining a nuclear weapons capability,” said Romney in comments reported by the Jerusalem Post.
"Ahmadinejad’s latest outrageous remarks are just another reminder of what is at stake," Romney said. “As I said recently when visiting Jerusalem, ‘We have seen the horrors of history. We will not stand by. We will not watch them play out again.’ ”
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Romney’s strong reaction was just part of general GOP outrage at the incendiary comments made by Ahmedinejad on Al-Quds Day, a day set aside for attacks on Zionism in many Muslim nations.
Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, referred to Iran at an election rally in Virginia, saying, “Under President Romney our adversaries will think twice about challenging America and our allies because we believe in peace through strength.”
Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the latest comments from Iran highlighted President Barack Obama’s failure to deter Iran's nuclear pursuit.
The Republican congresswoman said Friday that Ahmadinejad's "incendiary" comments were just another warning that "a fuse is burning," the Post reported.
"I have many serious concerns about this administration's Iran policy,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “Obama's approach seems to be based on a complete misreading of the intentions of the ayatollahs...by wasting precious time, his policies have placed the security of the State of Israel in jeopardy. It's past time for a change in leadership in the White House."
The White House also called Ahmadinejad’s comments "offensive and reprehensible" and urged Iran to stop supporting the Syrian government.
House Majority Leader, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, said there is a leadership void when it comes to dealing with Iran.
"The Obama Administration wasted precious time during some of those years trying to reason with the ayatollahs and it delayed for too long in imposing sanctions that would truly bite," he said. "Now, as Iran marches forward in its race to gain the capability to build a nuclear bomb, we find ourselves in need of strong leadership in the White House. We don't have that leadership now," Cantor said.
Ahmedinejad made his comments at an Al-Quds day rally at Tehran University on Friday. “The very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to humankind and an affront to all world nations,” he said.
He called his nation’s confrontations with Israel an effort to "protect the dignity of all human beings."
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The Iranian leader also said that Al-Quds Day, an annual event calling for Palestinian liberation, was “an occasion for all human communities to wipe out this scarlet letter, meaning the Zionist regime, from the forehead of humanity.”
“Confronting Zionists will also pave the way for saving the whole humankind from exploitation, depravity and misery,” Ahmadinejad added.
On Saturday, a senior Iranian commander said an attack by Israel on Tehran’s nuclear facilities is "welcome." An Israeli strike would give Iran a reason to hit back and "get rid of" Israel "forever," Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard's air force said, according to YNetNews.com.
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