Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Corbett of Castle Vale (Labour). It was answered by Lord Triesman (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 November 2005.

Iran: Presidential Comments on Israel

Question: What is their response to the statement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the extinction of the state of Israel.

Answer: My Lords, the United Nations Security Council has spoken for the whole international community in condemning the remarks about Israel made by President Ahmadinejad. We summoned the Iranian chargé d’affaires on 27 October to protest. On the same day, we issued a statement on behalf of the European Union heads of government which condemned the comments in the strongest terms. The statement emphasised that calls for violence and for the destruction of any state are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community.

Secondary information