(ANSA) - Italian politicians of all stripes said on Monday they would join sit-ins outside the Iranian embassy in Rome to protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for the destruction of Israel.
A number of MPs and party leaders have agreed to take part in a large candle-lit protest being organised by the conservative daily Il Foglio on Thursday evening. Another sit-in is planned for Wednesday afternoon by the Green party and is expected to draw younger protesters and pro-Palestinian left-wingers.
Ahmadinejad's remark last Wednesday that Israel "should be wiped off the map" was received with indignation in the West and prompted a rebuke from the United Nations Security Council. It also reignited fears that Tehran's nuclear technology programme, which has been at the centre of a dispute for some time, may not be entirely peaceful.
Democratic Left leader Piero Fassino said he planned to attend Thursday's sit-in, saying that Iran was waging "an ideological war against Israel which is politically and morally unacceptable." Rome mayor Walter Veltroni, of the Democratic Left, said he would also join the protest, calling Ahmadinejad's remarks an "intolerable insult not only to the Jewish state but to all the international community."
Deputy Productions Minister Adolfo D'Urso, of the governing right-wing National Alliance party, urged parties to make Thursday's protest a "bipartisan event. We hope that even those who have the future of Palestine at heart will heed our call and attend the sit-in," he said.
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Margherita Boniver said it was "disgusting" that Iran was attempting to whip up discord while the international community is working to relaunch the Road Map for Middle East peace.
