TEHRAN (AFP) — A close aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Wednesday to remain at his post despite pressure to quit over his remark that Iranians are "friends with Israelis", a report said.
"A servant of the people never resigns," the Fars news agency quoted Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as saying.
Mashaie's remark about Iran's archfoe last month has sparked fury among conservatives, with more than 200 MPs urging Ahmadinejad to take action against his ally and confidant.
"It is not appropriate that the president entrust an important governmental post to a man ... who does not have the courage to admit to his mistake and apologise," the ISNA news agency quoted Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nuri Hamedani as saying.
Ahmad Salek, spokesman of the Combatant Clergy Association, said: "It is intolerable for the people that an Iranian vice president speaks of friendship with Israelis."
He called on Mashaie to "resign as quickly as possible," the Mehr news agency reported.
Ahmadinejad, who has drawn international condemnation for his verbal attacks on Israel, has so far ignored the criticism of his ally, who is vice president for tourism and whose daughter is married to the president's son.
Iran does not recognise the Jewish state and Ahmadinejad earned notoriety shortly after his 2005 election by saying that Israel should be "wiped off the map", quoting Iran's revolutionary leader ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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