President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has raised the stakes against Israel by describing the Holocaust as a lie, just as world powers are trying to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil.
"The pretext [Holocaust] for the creation of the Zionist regime [Israel] is false . . . It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim," he told worshippers at Tehran University at the end of an annual anti-Israel "Quds (Jerusalem) Day" rally.
"Confronting the Zionist regime is a national and religious duty."
Mr Ahmadinejad's latest denial of the Holocaust attracted condemnation from around the world.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "Obviously, we condemn what he said. Such a comment "only serves to isolate Iran further from the world".
Germany's foreign minister also criticised the comments. In a statement, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: "Today's statements by the Iranian President are unacceptable. With his intolerable tirades he is a disgrace to his country.
"This sheer anti-Semitism demands our collective condemnation. We will continue to confront it decisively in the future."
Tens of thousands of Iranian opposition supporters protested the re-election of Mr Ahmadinejad today on the annual state-organised Quds Day that honours the Palestinian cause.
Rally participants marched toward downtown Tehran, converging on Enghelab Avenue, near the site of the capital's weekly Friday prayers where Mr Ahmadinejad spoke before the sermon. State-controlled media reported a "massive turnout."
Security forces have quelled mass protests triggered by the June 12th election victory of Mr Ahmadinejad, which opposition leaders disputed. Protests have continued in the face of arrests and the trial of more than 140 opposition activists and supporters. Mr Mousavi's car was attacked today.
Mr Ahmadinejad's anti-Western speeches and comments on the Holocaust have in the past caused an international outcry and isolated Iran which is at loggerheads with the West over its disputed nuclear programme.
The hard-line president warned leaders of Western-allied Arab and Muslim countries about dealing with Israel. "This regime [Israel] will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it. . . . This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end," he said in a speech broadcast live on state radio.
His fresh comments came ahead of his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly next week and before Tehran attends talks on October 1st with major powers worried about the Islamic Republic's nuclear strategy.
Western powers are concerned by what they have called Tehran's defiance and "point-blank refusal" to suspend uranium enrichment and address the issue as demanded by UN Security Council resolutions since 2006.
Mr Ahmadinejad repeated yesterday that Iran would "never" abandon its disputed nuclear programme to appease Western critics.
In an NBC-TV interview, the Iranian leader also did not offer a direct response when asked whether there were any conditions under which Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.
"We don't need nuclear weapons," he said, speaking through an interpreter. "We do not see any need for such weapons. And the conditions around the world are moving to favour our ideas," he added.
The major powers suspect Iran's uranium enrichment programme is a cover for developing nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly said it is enriching uranium only to generate electricity, not for fissile bomb material, although it has no nuclear power plants to use low-level enriched uranium.
Reuters