Iran condemns Italian FM's statements

Iran on Wednesday denounced Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini's statements against the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and anti-Israel stance, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Such a statement being made by Italian foreign minister is an example of indifference to the massacre of defenseless Palestinians by Israel and its state terrorism," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted as saying.

In reaction to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti- Israel remarks, Fini said on Wednesday that the international community must keep firm against Iran because the security of the world was threatened by Tehran's anti-Israel policy and ambition to obtain nuclear weapons.

On Tuesday, Fini also called for referring Iran's nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council.

In addition, Asefi criticized Israel of exaggerating Iran's nuclear case in order to avert the world's attention from the Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians.

"Israel was misleading public opinion of the international community by magnifying Iranian nuclear program to allay international concerns about its systematic genocide of the Palestinians," said Asefi.

Meanwhile, Italy's ANSA news agency reported that Iran had summoned Italian ambassador to protest a rally planned on Thursday in front of the Iranian embassy in Rome to denounce Ahmadinejad's anti-Israel comments.

Ahmadinejad said on Oct. 26 that Israel should be "wiped off from the map."

Source: Xinhua