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Australia has withdrawn a threat to file an international lawsuit against Iran's president for expressing anti-Israeli sentiments. Ever since taking office in August 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vociferously denounced Israeli crimes in Palestine. Ahmadinejad claims the Zionist (Israeli) regime is the 'summation of all evil in the world' and all forms of 'crimes and criminals' can been found in the occupied territories. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in May that Ahmadinejad 'must be condemned' for making 'dangerous' comments about Israel, threatening to take the Iranian president to the International Court of Justice. However, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced on Wednesday that Canberra had decided to drop the case due to the complexity of the issues involved and the high legal threshold required to bring forward a case. "The government has given exhaustive consideration to international legal action against Iran for these statements," Smith said."Having now considered legal and other advice, the government has decided not to pursue international legal action against Iran." Israeli allies have criticized Ahmadinejad, claiming that he wants Israel to be 'wiped off the map'. In a September interview with CNN's Larry King Live, the outspoken Iranian president explained his stance on the issue, saying that the Israeli regime would disappear in the same way as apartheid South Africa and the Soviet Union. "The Soviet Union has been wiped off the map. What happened to the Soviet Union?... When the people of the Soviet Union, the Russian people, were allowed to decide to take charge of their destiny, the Soviet Union disappeared," he expounded in a seperate September interview with Press TV. Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has refused to recognize Israel over its occupation of Palestinian lands as well as its numerous crimes against the Palestinians - such actions have even been condemned by close Israeli allies. Several UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israeli actions against the Palestinians have been defied by Israel. The US, Tel Aviv's number one ally, has exercised its veto powers to prevent the adoption of 42 anti-Israeli resolutions sought by the council since 1972. Since 2004, Washington has vetoed three UNSC resolutions which required Israel to halt its operations - such as cutting fuel and electricity--in the Gaza strip.As in the days of Noah....
