France and Spain on Monday issued condemnations of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's latest verbal attack on Israel, in which he said that the world would soon witness the destruction of Israel.

Speaking at a ceremony Sunday to mark the 18th anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ahmadinejad said that saying a "countdown" has begun that will end with Lebanese and Palestinian militants destroying Israel.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos called Ahmadinejad's comments unacceptable. Spain last week hosted talks between Iran and the European Union over Tehran's nuclear program.

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"These words need a strong response," Moratinos told Spanish national radio.

"I've asked our [Foreign Ministry] political director to receive the ambassador to express to him our absolute, total rejection of those remarks," Moratinos said.

In France, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the president's comments were "unacceptable" and "incompatible" with Tehran's wish to play a major role in the region.

"If these comments were actually made, they are unacceptable. I condemn them with utmost severity," Kouchner said in a statement.

"Such statements are incompatible with the dialogue between cultures and civilizations to which we are attached and with Iran's aspiration to play a role of major importance in the region."

Ahmadinejad's remarks were reminiscent of his comment two years ago that Israel should be "wiped off the map," which triggered outrage in the West.

The Iranian president also said that last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah showed for the first time that the "hegemony of the occupier regime [Israel]" had collapsed, and the Lebanese nation pushed the button to begin counting the days until the destruction of the Zionist regime, IRNA quoted him as saying.

Israel responded Sunday by asking the international community to condemn Ahmadinejad's comments.

Khamenei defiant on Iran's right to nuclear program

Meanwhile, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday that Iran would not beg world powers for its right to develop nuclear technology and has shown it will not retreat from the "field of danger" to protect such rights.

The defiant remarks by the Islamic Republic's highest authority come two days ahead of a summit of the Group of Eight top industrialised nations that is expected to include discussions about the row over Iran's nuclear program.

World powers have demanded Iran halt uranium enrichment, a process Western nations say Tehran is mastering so it can build atomic bombs. Tehran insists its plans have purely civilian goals and has refused to halt the work.

"Do you think the Iranian nation will beg for reaching its nuclear rights so that bullying powers will accept this? ... No, this is not the spirit of a free and independent nation," Khamenei said in a televised speech.

Iran insists it has the right to enrich uranium to make fuel for nuclear power plants under international treaty. Western nations say it needs to convince the world of its peaceful goals before it can enjoy that right.

The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran still needs to answer questions about its plans before Tehran's atomic program can be given a clean bill of health.

"The world has learnt from experience that an Iranian will never step back from the field of danger when defending his rights," Khamenei said in remarks to mark the anniversary of the death of Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The UN Security Council has slapped two rounds of sanctions on Iran since December for failing to halt enrichment. G8 foreign ministers said last week Iran faced further sanctions for failing to stop the sensitive atomic work.

The Thursday talks between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has been representing world powers, failed to break a deadlock in the dispute but they agreed to meet again later this month.

Khamenei accused Iran's "enemy" - 1usually used to refer to the United States - of waging a "psychological war" and seeking to divide Iranians ahead of parliamentary elections in March.

"This next parliamentary election will be another way [to show] the nation's dignity and growth," he said. He also accused "the enemy" of seeking to divide the Islamic world, to which the crowd chanted "Death to America."