Israel a 'dead' regime, Iran says

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TEHRAN, March 12 (UPI) -- Western supporters of Israel are losing credibility in the eyes of the international community, the Iranian president said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the Israeli government as a "dead" regime. He said Western backers of Israel are losing face in the international community.

"You have made investments and are losing face for the sake of a bunch of criminals and are not aware that the Zionist regime is like a rotten tree that you have invested in, but you will lose face," he was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr News Agency as saying.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Israeli TV after returning from Washington that "it's not a matter of days or weeks but also not of years" before resorting to military action to counter a perceived nuclear weapons' threat from Iran.

Iran last week said it was ready to let U.N. inspectors back into the country to address outstanding concerns. Western governments say Iran is working on the technology needed to manufacture a nuclear weapon, though Tehran maintains its intentions are peaceful.

Ahmadinejad, in an apparent reference to Washington's policy in Iran, said his adversaries can leave all of their options on the table "until they decay."