By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday that Hizbullah was operating under the control of Iran, and could not be beaten "with military strength or maneuver" alone but must be addressed as a regional political menace.
Peres said in a wide-ranging talk at the Council on Foreign Relations that the UN Security Council took a "first step" to achieving sustained peace in the region by passing a resolution earlier in the day giving Iran until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment.
Peres said Israel's tactical goals include Hizbullah leaving the southern front of Lebanon, stopping missiles being firings into Israel and release of the two captured IDF soldiers.
"But I agree with the president that we have to go further than that," Peres said. "We have to look at what can be achieved which is more durable, more sustainable, with a further look and a wider look of the Middle East."
Peres described a quartet of Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah as "acting under the auspices of Iran."
"If they will win, it will be catastrophic," he said.