France condemns Iranian president's statement against Israel

France on Wednesday strongly condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to eradicate Israel.

Ahmadinejad earlier in the day openly stated that Israel should be "wiped off the map" and lashed out at Muslim nations who recognize the Jewish state.

"We have taken note of the report on President Ahmadinejad's remarks," said French Foreign Ministry's spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei.

"If these remarks were indeed made, we condemn them in the strongest terms," he said.

Ahmadinejad said at a conference in Tehran, entitled "The World without Zionism, that "the establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world."

"As the Imam (Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini) said, Israel must be wiped off the map," he said.

It is the first time in years that a top Iranian official openly called for Israel's eradication, even though such slogans are regularly used at rallies.

Source: Xinhua