Israel lauds Canada's suspending ties with Iran

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday lauded Canada's decision last week to suspend diplomatic ties with Iran.

"I want to congratulate Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the moral, courageous step he took," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet session, according to a statement sent to Xinhua.

Canada, calling Iran the "most significant threat to global peace and security," in a surprise move on Friday gave Iranian diplomats five days to leave the country and closed its embassy in Teheran.

The Israeli prime minister urged other "responsible members" of the international community to follow Canada's move, which he said has "set moral and practical red lines in front of the Iranians, lines that will stop the Iranian race to obtain nuclear weapons".

Teheran, however, shot back and called Canada a "racist state" complying with "American-Zionist" diktat.

Israel and many Western countries, including Canada and the United States, have said a weaponization program is behind Iran's nuclear activities, a charge that Iran denies.

Israeli President Shimon Peres also praised the Canadian government for its decision.

"Canada has proven once again that morals come before pragmatism," Peres said on Saturday in a statement, calling Iran "a source of global terror, a blatant violator of human rights."

In protest of the decision by Ottowa, Iranian media said Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani would not attend an international meeting of parliamentarians set to be held in the Canadian capital in late October.

Meanwhile, both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Netanyahu will address the UN General Assembly in about two weeks.