TORONTO —

The Islamic fundamentalist regime in Tehran dreams of resurrecting the glory that was the Persian empire, Raa­nan Gissin said.

“Iran wants to fulfil an age-old dream of becoming a regional and world power,” argued Gissin, who was se­nior ad­viser and press spokesperson for Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister. “The writing was always on the wall, but no one noticed because it was in Persian.”

He added, “Iran wants a new map, a new world, not just the erasing of Is­rael.”

The Iranian government regards Israel as a threat because it is the epitome of modernism, which the Iran­ian regime cannot abide, he noted.

“Israel is a major challenge to Iran and therefore must be removed,” said Gissin, whose speech at the law offices of Blaney McMurtry LLP was sponsored by the Speakers Action Group, the Consulate General of Israel and the Canadian Jewish Civil Rights Association.

Calling the current situation “harsh and difficult,” Gissin compared “the Irani­an threat” to global warming. “Everyone is talking about it, but not much is being done. If you let it pro­gress, it will become worse.”

The solution is to threaten the Islamic regime rather than its nuclear arsenal, said Gissin, adding that Iran is not merely Israel’s problem. As he put it, “Israel can’t do it alone.”

He called on the international community and Israel to co-operate and find ways to contain Iran.

Claiming that the Iranian government is internally vulnerable, he recommend­ed co­vert and overt measures against it.

“There’s a way to do it without send­ing planes. Intelligence, intelligence, intelligence. Send in the spies. Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Implying that top-level Iranian lea­ders should be assassinated, Gissin observed, “They’ll act differently if their per­sonal safety is in danger.”

Economic sanctions should be deployed, but he warned that Iran may be resistant to such pressure. “They’re not susceptible to sanctions.”

The Iranian regime sacrificed hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and could be ready to make more sacrifices to preserve its legitimacy and power.

Gissin said that Iran should be “re-branded” so that its imperialist intentions are revealed.

Saying that the military option should re­main on the table and used only as a last resort, Gissin said Israel knows how to defend itself. He praised its intelligence services as second to none.

Turning to another topic, Gissin suggested that the present diplomatic row between Israel and the United States over the approval of 1,600 housing units in eastern Jerusalem could have been avoid­­ed if Israel had played its cards right.

“The U.S. had to respond once Is­rael’s plans in Jerusalem became pub­lic,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to avoid bringing things into the public do­main.”

Gissin described the dispute as a prime example of domestic politics trump­ing foreign policy. Calling it a “vir­­tual issue,” he explained that Israel never had any intention of building new housing units anytime soon. “But once word got out, things changed.”

In his view, the Israeli government should have waited and not made its announcement during U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel.

“There’s always a way to handle these things,” he said. Now, Gissin mused, “Israel has to deal with a crisis of public diplomacy.”

The issue should be taken off the ta­ble by “quiet diplomacy,” he advised. In future, Israel should “level” with  the United States rather than “surprise” it before issuing announcements.

Despite current tensions, Israel’s stra­tegic relationship with the United Sta­tes remains rock solid. “There is a great af­finity in shared values and interests.”

Gissin characterized Israel’s spat with the United States as essentially a needless distraction.

“The real issue is the Iranian threat. We play into Iranian hands.”