The Vatican this evening condemned a call by Iran's president to "wipe Israel off the map", calling it "particularly serious and unacceptable", and said it was very worried by renewed violence in the Holy Land.
"The Holy See at this time reaffirms the right, for both Israelis and Palestinians, to live in peace and security, each in their own sovereign state," it said in a statement, signed by Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, cheered by thousands of supporters, today stood by his call earlier in the week for Israel to be eliminated.
Israel said it would request an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council over the comments.
Tens of thousands of Iranians have started anti-Israel protests across the country and repeated calls by their president for the Jewish state's destruction.
Earlier Iran sought to smoothe the effects of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comment this week that Israel should be "wiped off the map", saying through its Moscow embassy that he did not mean to "speak up in such sharp terms".
"It's absolutely clear that, in his remarks, Mr Ahmadinejad . . . underlined the key position of Iran, based on the necessity to hold free elections on the occupied territories."
But despite efforts to play down the comments Iranians staged multiple protests throughout the capital, Tehran, and in other cities, holding banners and placards carrying anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian slogans.
Iran's seven state-run TV stations devoted coverage to programmes condemning the Jewish state.
The demonstrations are being held as part of annual al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day protests, which were first held in 1979 after Shia Muslim clerics took power in Iran.
Agencies