The Iranian foreign ministry summoned Italian ambassador on Wednesday to protest over a planned march in Rome to show solidarity with Israel after the Iranian president's calls for its destruction, according to Italian media reports.

The demonstration march in Rome is scheduled to be held on Thursday.

After receiving the formal note of protest at the Iranian foreign ministry, Italian ambassador to Tehran, Roberto Toscano, reportedly repeated what he said to Iranian Vice President Parviz Davudi a day earlier.

On that occasion, Toscano said Italy's position was that Israel has the right to exist, adding that Rome had always sought frank dialogue with Tehran on this question in the interests of peace.

"We gave instructions to our ambassador to explain why there is such indignation in Italy," Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told reporters later.

The Rome demonstration, organised by Italy's conservative daily Il Foglio, comes in response to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remark last week that Israel "should be wiped off the map".

Source: Xinhua