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Iran president stands by Israel remark

Friday Oct 28 21:35 AEST

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood by his call for Israel to be "wiped off the map", as thousands of Iranians marched through Tehran on Friday chanting "death to Israel" and "death to America".

But the Iranian embassy in Moscow, where Iran seeks help in building a nuclear power plant, sought to play down remarks that have stirred condemnation in the West as well as the Kremlin.

Israel sought an emergency session of the UN Security Council.

Iranian demonstrators, marching from nine different points in the Iranian capital, trampled on Israeli flags and set fire to both Israeli and US flags.

Some shouted "Palestine, Palestine, we support you" at the state-sponsored rally, attended by most of Iran's senior officials including Ahmadinejad.

Iran says Israel has no right to exist and occupies land rightfully belonging to Palestinians. But it denies US allegations that it backs Islamic groups opposing Arab-Israeli peace accords and says it gives them only moral support.

Ahmadinejad made a brief appearance at the Tehran rally and took a short walk with the crowd. He rejected the West's condemnation as "invalid".

"My words were the Iranian nation's words. Westerners are free to comment, but their reactions are invalid," Ahmadinejad told the official IRNA news agency.

The demonstrations, which also took place in other parts of Iran, were organised by Islamic hardliners to mark "Qods Day" (Jerusalem Day), which the Islamic republic observes on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The Iranian embassy in Moscow sought to play down Ahmadinejad's comments made earlier this week.

"Mr. Ahmadinejad did not have any intention to speak up in such sharp terms and enter into a conflict," the Iranian embassy in Moscow said in a statement, in a first official reaction to the West's outrage.

Soldiers, civil servants and women wearing head-to-toe black chadors joined the demonstration.

"Ahmadinejad talks on behalf of all Iranians. We are ready to die for Palestine," said Mohammad Mirzayi, 25, a hardline volunteer member of the Basiji militia which enforces social restrictions such as Islamic dress codes for women.

Support for the Palestinian cause is a key commitment of Iran's foreign policy.

Basiji men and women, some dressed in camouflage uniforms and others wearing white shrouds symbolising suicide bombers, proclaimed their loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and denounced Israel and the United States, which broke ties with Iran after the 1979 revolution.

"We support Ahmadinejad's domestic and international policy," said Masoumeh Tala, a Basij woman.

The crowd marched to Tehran University for mass prayers, carrying pictures of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his successor Khamenei.