(RFE/RL)
28 October 2005 -- Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad joined thousands of people who took part in state-organized anti-Israel rallies in Tehran today.
The rallies are part of Iran's annual Qods (Jerusalem) Day protests aimed at showing solidarity with the Palestinian nation.
Today's demonstrations in Tehran, and other cities across Iran, came after Ahmadinejad on 26 October said that Israel should be "wiped off the map." His remarks were internationally condemned, and Israel called for Iran to be expelled from the United Nations.
Protesters today chanted "Death to Israel, death to America" and trampled and set fire to Israeli and U.S. flags. Ahmadinejad was accompanied by several cabinet ministers at the rally.
The official news agency IRNA today quoted him as saying that his words on 26 October were "the exact words of the Iranian people".
(Reuters/AFP/dpa)