(Financial Times-UK) Gareth Smyth - Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's fundamentalist president, on Wednesday declared that Israel should be "wiped off the map" and warned Arab countries against developing economic ties with Israel in response to its withdrawal from Gaza. His remarks, delivered at a conference in Tehran entitled "A World without Zionism," led to diplomatic protests by the UK, France and Spain, while Shimon Peres, Israel's deputy prime minister, said Iran should be expelled from the UN. Ahmadi-Nejad, who took office in August, was departing from the moderate line of his reformist predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, who argued Iran should be no more radical about Israel than the Palestinians themselves.
2005-10-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive