Iranian Threats to Destroy Israeli Cities on Holocaust Memorial Day

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi threatened to destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa, as Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, and reiterated a demand for the US to leave the Mideast. Raisi also offered an olive branch to regional nations seeking to create security in the region. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likened Iran to Nazi Germany, calling it an existential threat to the Jewish people. The two countries maintained close relations during the reign of shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in a popular 1979 uprising led by Islamist clerics.