Iranian President Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again lashed out against at Israel Sunday, vowing that the "countdown" has begun toward to the destruction of the Jewish state. He spoke on the 18th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the Muslim revolution in 1979.

"The countdown to this regime’s [Israel's] destruction started through the hands of Hizbullah's children,” he said in a speech to foreign guests in Tehran. "We will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future thanks to the endeavors of Palestinian and Lebanese fighters."