Mohammad Larijani, Iran's national security chief said Friday
that his country was not intending to wipe Israel "off the
map."
Larijani made the remarks during a session of the World Economic
Forum on the Middle East which is opened on the shores of the Dead
Sea earlier in the day.
Larijani said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had
spoken of "erasing the practices" followed by Israel against the
Palestinians, rather than erasing Israel.
The Western media deliberately distorted President Ahmadinejad's
words in their reports, he said, adding "let me tell you one thing
about taking Israel off the map. It was a by-product of the Western
media."
Ahmadinejad has reportedly made verbal attacks on Israel and has
also provoked outrage by describing the Holocaust as a "myth."
Larijani said if Israel and the Palestinians can reach a viable
settlement, Iran would support it. "When peace will come, Iran will
be part of it."
When asked whether that meant he could envisage a day when Iran
would recognize Israel, Larijani said "this is a premature
question."
The World Economic Forum opened its meeting in South Shuneh on
Friday. More than 1,000 participants, including 16 heads of state,
from 56 countries gathered here to discuss ways to advance economic
diversification and peace in the troubled Mideast region.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2007)
