Israel has said it wants to call an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council in response to the comment by the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that it should be 'wiped off the map'.
The comment has been met with a storm of criticism from European governments, the United States and the United Nations.
There are signs that the Iranian government may be trying to play down the controversial remarks.
In a statement issued through the Iranian embassy in Moscow, the Iranian government said the president had not meant to speak in such sharp terms.
The embassy went on to say that Mr Ahmadinejad had made it clear Iran believed in the necessity of holding free elections on the future of the occupied territories.
It was Tehran's first public statement on the president's remarks.
Earlier, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, expressed his dismay at the remarks.
In a rare public rebuke of a member state, Mr Annan reminded Iran that all countries signing the UN charter agree not to threaten the use of force against another state.
