Editor's note: This post has been updated.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency says it misquoted the country's president-elect Hasan Rouhani.
Iranians attend an annual pro-Palestinian rally marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Aug. 2, 2013. Ahead of his inauguration, Iran's new president, Hasan Rouhani, on Friday called Israel an "old wound" that "should be removed," while thousands of Iranians marched in support of Muslim claims to the holy city of Jerusalem. (AP)
ISNA reported Friday that Rouhani said "the Zionist regime has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world for years and the wound should be removed" in remarks ahead of his inauguration.
The remarks, made during an annual pro-Palestinian rally, echoed longstanding views of other Iranian leaders and threatened to tarnish his image in the West as a voice of moderation in Iranian affairs.
But after an outcry, ISNA corrected the quote, saying Rouhani actually said "in our region and under occupation of Palestine and dear al-Quds (Jerusalem), there has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world."
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