"The
establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor
against the Islamic world," the president told a conference in Tehran
on Wednesday, entitled The World without Zionism.
"The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a
war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined
in Palestinian land," he said.
"As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map,"
said Ahmadinejad, referring to Iran's revolutionary leader Ayat Allah
Khomeini.
His comments were the first time in years that such a
high-ranking Iranian official has called for Israel's eradication, even
though such slogans are still regularly used at government
rallies.
Call for unity
Addressing about 4000 students gathered in an
Interior Ministry conference hall, Ahmadinejad also called for
Palestinian unity, resistance and a point "where the annihilation of
the Zionist regime will come".
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Khatami was in favour of
'dialogue among civilisations' |
"The
Islamic umma (community) will not allow its historic enemy to live in
its heartland," he said in the fiery speech that centred on a "historic
war between the oppressor and the world of Islam".
The term "oppressor" is used by the clerical government to refer to the United States.
"We should not settle for a piece of land," he said of Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip.
"Anyone who signs a treaty which recognises the
entity of Israel means he has signed the surrender of the Muslim
world," Ahmadinejad said.
"Any leaders in the Islamic umma who recognise Israel face the wrath of their own people."
Major change
Ahmadinejad, a veteran of Iran's hardline
Revolutionary Guards, took office in August after scoring a landslide
win in a June presidential election.
His tone represents a major change from that of
former president Mohammad Khatami, whose favoured topic was "dialogue
among civilisations" and who led an effort to improve Iran's relations
with the West.
But Ahmadinejad instead spoke of a "historic war".
"It dates backs hundreds of years. Sometimes Islam
has advanced. Sometimes nobody was winning. Unfortunately over the past
300 years, the world of Islam has been in retreat," he lamented.
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"The skirmishes in the occupied
land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of
war will be defined in Palestinian land"
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of Iran |