UN chief 'shocked' at Iran remarks against Israel

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "shocked and dismayed" at a report that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the world would witness the destruction of Israel soon, the United Nations said Thursday. The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday that the hard-line president, who has made anti-Israeli comments in the past, referred twice to Israel's impending destruction. "The secretary-general points out that the state of Israel is a full and longstanding member of the United Nations with the same rights and obligations as every other member," UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in a statement. "He reminds that under the United Nations Charter, all members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state," Okabe said.