October 28, 2005
Tens of thousands of people in Iran have staged anti-Israel protests across the country on Friday, reiterating calls by the country's hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map". Iranians staged multiple demonstrations in the capital, Tehran, and other cities such as Mashad in Iran's east, holding banners carrying anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian slogans. "Death to Israel, death to America," read many of the placards. World leaders have condemned the remarks by Ahmadinejad, who on Wednesday had repeated similar words by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the former leader the Islamist country. The Iranian embassy in Moscow tried to downplay Ahmadinejad's comments: "Mr. Ahmadinejad did not have any intention to speak in sharp terms and engage in a conflict," the embassy said in a statement following the wave of international criticism. It added that Ahmadinejad "underlined the key position of Iran, based on the necessity to hold free elections on the occupied territories." Meanwhile, Israeli politicians called for Iran's expulsion from the United Nations.
