Europe condemns Iran's call to wipe out Israel

Europe strongly condemned Iran's President yesterday for saying Israel should be "wiped out of the map" and said the call raised concerns about the aims of a country the West suspects is planning to build an atomic bomb.

Support for the Palestinian cause is a central policy pillar for the Islamic Republic, which does not recognise Israel, and its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday the Islamic world "will not let its historic enemy live in its heartland".

European Union leaders and Russia joined the United States and Canada in condemning the comments attributed to Mr Ahmadinejad and Iranian envoys in capitals across Europe, including Russia, were summoned to explain the remarks.

"Calls for violence, and for the destruction of any state, are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community," EU leaders said in a statement issued at a one-day summit outside London.

"Such comments will cause concern about Iran's role in the region, and its future intentions," they said.

Under reformist President Mohammad Khatami's eight-year tenure Iran had shown signs of easing its hostility towards Israel and officials said Tehran might not object to a two-state solution to the Arab-Israel dispute, if Palestinians wanted it.

Mr Ahmadinejad, a former member of the hardline Revolutionary Guards and traditional religious conservative who came to power earlier this year, made no mention of that possibility.

But officials and analysts in Tehran downplayed Mr Ahmadinejad's call, saying it does not signal the start of a more aggressive stance towards the Jewish state.