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Iran insists on position Israel should be "wiped off the map"
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-28 10:02

Iran insisted Thursday that Israel was an "illegitimate" regime that must be wiped off the map, and said international condemnation to comments by Iran's president aimed at "covering up" what it called Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said massive demonstrations Friday would illustrate the anger of the Islamic world over the existence of the Jewish state.

Ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad angered the world community Wednesday after he declared that Israel is a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map."

"The comments expressed by the president is the declared and specific policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Mottaki said on state-run television late Thursday.

"We don't recognize the Zionist regime and don't consider it legitimate," he said.

Mottaki said Iranians will show their anger Friday during massive demonstrations that will be staged in Tehran and other parts of the country to mark annual al-Quds Day _ when Iranians protest Israel's control over Jerusalem.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians are expected to back Ahmadinejad's comments in protest rallies in Tehran and across the country.

"The world will see the anger of the Islamic world against this regime," state-run television quoted him as telling ambassadors from Islamic countries.

He added that the "Zionist regime is illegitimate. The international community is concerned about the existence of nuclear warheads held by this regime."

Mottaki's comments came as international condemnation grew over Ahmadinejad comments to students Wednesday that Israel should be destroyed.

"The hasty reaction of European countries is aimed at covering up the crimes committed (by Israel) nowadays in the occupied territories," he said.

Iran's state-run television channels have devoted most of their programs to anti-Israeli rhetoric in preparation for Friday's rallies.

The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the pro-Western Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as an international day of struggle against Israel and for the liberation of Jerusalem.

The Iranian government organizes a central demonstration every year in Tehran, while other rallies demanding the destruction of Israel are also held around the world. Lebanon's Hezbollah is expected to stage a military parade in Beirut to mark the day.

The U.S. says the hostile words by Ahmadinejad underscores Washington's concern over Iran's nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad's speech to thousands of students at a "World without Zionism" conference set a hard-line foreign policy course sharply at odds with that of his moderate predecessor Mohammad Khatami who promoted a policy of tolerance and dialogue among civilizations.

The United States said Ahmadinejad's remarks show that Washington's fears about Iran's nuclear program are accurate.

Ahmadinejad comments correspond with those of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has repeatedly called Israel a "cancerous tumor" that must be wiped out from the Middle East.

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