In the past, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that must be wiped from the map, but the new comments mark the first time in years he has openly speculated about Israel’s demise.

The West suspects Iran wants to develop a nuclear weapons capability under the guise of a declared civilian atomic energy program. Tehran rejects the charge, saying its uranium enrichment program is a peaceful way to generate electricity.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there was no concrete evidence that Tehran has an ongoing nuclear weapons program.

“But somehow, many people are talking about how Iran’s nuclear program is the greatest threat to the world. In many ways, I think the threat has been hyped,” he told the specialist Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

ElBaradei said there was concern about Iran’s future nuclear intentions and that the Islamic Republic needs to be more transparent with the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Ahmadinejad’s speech reflected the increasing bitterness of what has become Iran’s most tumultuous political crisis in decades.

According to the Chinese government, the majority of the victims in the riot were Han Chinese, attacked by Uighurs who’ve complained for decades about being marginalized, abused, neglected, and oppressed ever since former Communist leader Mao Zedong launched a campaign to flood Xinjiang with Han Chinese in 1960s. But many of the victims were Uighurs, too, and thousands of Uighurs were arrested as a result of the melee. Many could face execution.

An estimated 30,000 people attended the rally in Tabriz.

The crowd for the challenger, Mir Hussein Moussavi, was extraordinary not only for its size — an estimated 30,000 — but also because the supporters were not paid, given free food, bused in or ordered by their workplaces to attend, a tactic sometimes used by Mr. Ahmadinejad’s campaign.

Many traveled here in private cars and learned about the rally despite new government restrictions on Facebook, the social networking site, which Mr. Moussavi’s campaign had been using to spread word of his candidacy among the country’s predominantly young electorate. The supporters gave a rousing welcome to Mr. Moussavi, who was born in Khameneh, a small town in the Azerbaijan area of Iran.

Stating that Iran will become a threat for Turkey as well, in the case the production of nuclear weapons, Cheney said he is uncomfortable with the approach between Tehran and Ankara. Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan said Turkey will continue to encourage Iran to cooperate with international organizations about nuclear energy. “How could we deliver the right message if we don’t have close relations?” Erdoğan asked.

Iran on Friday voted in elections expected to tighten the grip of conservatives on parliament after a low-key campaign and the mass disqualification of reformist candidates by a hardline vetting body.

Reformists are only able to contest around half of the 290 seats up for grabs after the Guardians Council vetoed hundreds of their candidates for being deemed insufficiently loyal to the Islamic revolution.

The sidelining of reformists means it will be difficult to use the vote as a barometre of controversial President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s popularity, despite discontent over inflation rates of almost 18 percent.