A former senior Iranian cleric spoke with Israeli media for the first time from Tehran, calling for an end to hostilities between the two countries and saying that the Islamic Republic's frequent talks about their intention to destroy Israel are "serious."
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In an unprecedented interview, Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani, a current opposition figure whose "ayatollah" title was revoked by Tehran due to disagreements with the regime, told Israel's Channel 12 News that he has "no problem" with the Jewish state.
"It is time for the Iranian regime to stop inventing enemies that don't exist," he asserted. "The Iranians and the Jews have many years of friendship, I have not met any Iranians who had a negative opinion of Israel."
The ex-religious figure confessed that his longtime wish has been to travel to Jerusalem and "pray at the Western Wall."
Tehrani also added that since the 1980s, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been trying to "ruin" the country.
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According to the opposition figure, the Islamic Republic is a "dictatorship that stifles dissenting opinions and freedom of expression."
"With God's help, if I stay alive, I would like to see the day when the illogical hostility between Iran and Israel will end," he concluded.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
