Nations Condemn Iran Leader’s Israel Comment

Governments around the world expressed shock and scorn Thursday at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s call for Israel to be “wiped off the map,” and several summoned Tehran’s envoys in their capitals for a reprimand.

Israel called for Iran to be expelled from the United Nations over Ahmadinejad’s remarks, but other nations did not immediately back that view.

In a speech Wednesday, Ahmadinejad denounced Israel and predicted a new wave of Palestinian attacks that would destroy it. Several nations, including the United States, immediately condemned the comments, and more did so Thursday.

The 25 European Union leaders at a summit outside London said, “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.”

Australian Prime Minister John Howard called Ahmadinejad’s remarks “dangerous” and said they required a U.N. response, but he wasn’t specific.

Newspapers across the Middle East, meanwhile, reported Ahmadinejad’s speech without comment, many on their front pages.

Some Palestinians -- who would have the task of destroying Israel, according to Ahmadinejad -- rejected the remarks.

“We have recognized the state of Israel and we are pursuing a peace process with Israel, and ... we do not accept the statements of the president of Iran,” negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

France, Russia, Spain and the Netherlands summoned the Iranian ambassadors in their capitals to explain the remarks.

The German and Austrian foreign ministries also called in Iranian diplomatic representatives to protest the comments, and Italy said the remarks confirmed concerns over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov, on a visit to Israel, said, “I don’t agree that anyone should challenge the right of any U.N. member to exist.”