Kazem Jalali, Spokesman for the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee: Even If We Had a Nuclear Bomb, We Would Not Drop It on Tel Aviv

Following are excerpts from an interview withKazem Jalali, spokesman for the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, which aired on Channel 2, Iranian TV, on December 26, 2006.

Kazem Jalali: The comparison between the Islamic Republic of Iran and North Korea is wrong, because the security doctrine of the Islamic Republic of Iran does not include an atomic bomb. Therefore, to the viewer, who said that we should finish the job, and that there is no point to negotiations, I say that our security doctrine does not include an atomic bomb. If we had an atomic bomb today, how would this promote our security? Even if we had an atomic bomb, we cannot drop it – not even on Tel Aviv, because we consider the killing of innocent people to be forbidden. Even if the people living in Tel Aviv are Jews, they are innocent, and we cannot kill innocent people. This is what the Americans did, I am sad to say.

Interviewer: Why do you say: "Even though they are Jews?" The Jews are very respectable. Say: "Even though they are Israelis."

Kazem Jalali: Even though they are Israelis or Zionists. I stand corrected. You are right. I mean that we have no conflict with regular innocent people, whatever their religion. We respect all human beings.