JERUSALEM (JTA) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Arab nations will usher in a new Middle East "without Zionists and without colonialists."
He made the statement Thursday during a two-day visit to Syria to meet with President Bashar Assad.
"If the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation," Ahmadinejad added during a news conference with Assad.
The Americans "want to dominate the region but they feel Iran and Syria are preventing that," Ahmadinejad said. "We tell them that instead of interfering in the region’s affairs to pack their things and leave."
Ahmadinejad is set to meet with senior officials from Hamas and Hezbollah, according to Syria’s state-run news agency.
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