Update: President Ahmadinejad stood by his comments.  He told official Iranian news agency IRNA, "My words were the Iranian nation's words.  Westerners are free to comment but their reactions are invalid."   In an interview with state-run Iranian television, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stated: "The comments expressed by the president is the declared and specific policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We don't recognize the Zionist regime and don't consider it legitimate.

On December 8, 2005, the Iranian President denied the Holocaust and suggested that Israel should be moved to Europe.

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New York, NY, October 27, 2005 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today condemned "in the harshest terms" the remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel's destruction, while welcoming the statements of those world leaders who denounced his words.

In an address to 4,000 students at a program titled, "The World Without Zionism," Mr. Ahmadinejad said that "Israel must be wiped off the map."  The Iranian president called on Palestinians to take control of the land.  "The establishment of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world," he said.  "The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of the war of destiny.  The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land."

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks about Israel are totally unacceptable and beyond the bounds of civilized society, and must be condemned in the harshest terms. His call for the destruction of the State of Israel highlights the extremism of the Iranian regime and confirms the profound concern the international community has regarding its development of nuclear weapons and support for terrorist organizations.

Unfortunately, Mr. Ahmadinejad's rhetoric is consistent with that of Iran's political and religious leadership since the founding of the Islamic regime in 1979.  While we had held out hope that Iran was changing, with reform-minded Iranian leaders attempting to temper the government's virulently anti-Israel attitude, Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements show that Iran continues to make its hatred for Israel and America a national crusade and obsession.

We commend and are heartened by the strong condemnations by the United States, European Union, Canada, Russia, Great Britain, France, and others, making it clear to Iranian diplomats that statements such as President Ahmadinejad's are unacceptable.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.