Mohammad Larijani, Iran's national security chief said Friday that his country was not intending to wipe Israel "off the map."

Larijani made the remarks during a session of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East which is opened on the shores of the Dead Sea earlier in the day.

Larijani said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had spoken of "erasing the practices" followed by Israel against the Palestinians, rather than erasing Israel.

The Western media deliberately distorted President Ahmadinejad's words in their reports, he said, adding "let me tell you one thing about taking Israel off the map. It was a by-product of the Western media."

Ahmadinejad has reportedly made verbal attacks on Israel and has also provoked outrage by describing the Holocaust as a "myth."

Larijani said if Israel and the Palestinians can reach a viable settlement, Iran would support it. "When peace will come, Iran will be part of it."

When asked whether that meant he could envisage a day when Iran would recognize Israel, Larijani said "this is a premature question."

The World Economic Forum opened its meeting in South Shuneh on Friday. More than 1,000 participants, including 16 heads of state, from 56 countries gathered here to discuss ways to advance economic diversification and peace in the troubled Mideast region.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2007)