Ahmadinejad is feared in Israel because of his repeated calls to wipe the Jewish state off the map [Reuters]

In an address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Shimon Peres said: "Tehran combines long range missiles and short range minds. It is pregnant with tragedies.

Peres said that the Iranian people were not enemies of Israel, but "Their fanatic leadership is their problem and the world's concern."

In his own address to the Assembly on Tuesday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, lashed out at Israel and its chief ally the United States, saying "the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool  created by itself and its supporters."

Peres also accused Tehran of dividing Lebanon through its support to the powerful Hezbollah Shia militia.

Tehran's "support for Hamas split the Palestinians and postpones the establishment of the Palestinian state," he added.

The Security Council has slapped three rounds of sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which can be used to make the fissile material for a nuclear bomb.

But Russia and China appear to be reluctant to impose a fourth round of sanctions.

Peres said the UN "General Assembly and the Security Council bear responsibility to prevent agonies before they take place."

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