Iran Focus and agencies
Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth. He rejected the two-state solution to the Middle East crisis as a defeat for the Islamic world, adding that the roadmap would be short-lived. If we put it behind us successfully, god willing, it will pave the way for the destruction and the downfall of the Zionist regime.
The hard-line Presidents comments were strongly condemned by France, Germany, and the United States.
“If these remarks were indeed made, we condemn them in the strongest terms”, said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei.
Germany called the comments “completely unacceptable”.
“If these comments were in fact made, they are completely unacceptable and should be condemned in the strongest terms”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Walter Lindner said.
Across the Atlantic, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the Iranian President’s comments “just reconfirms what we have been saying about the regime in Iran. It underscores the concerns we have about Iran’s nuclear operations”.
The United States’ position was echoed by Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who said Tehran had consistently shown its desire to wipe out Israel. “This is not the first time that this regime has wished for the destruction of the state of Israel … This kind of regime is very, very extreme and it would be a nightmare for all the international community if they had a nuclear bomb”.
“We believe that the time has come to move the Iranian file to the [United Nations”> Security Council and the sooner the better”.
