Tony Blair, Britain's prime minister, yesterday led a powerful condemnation by the European Union of the Iranian president's call for Israel to be "wiped off the map", warning that such remarks were "completely unacceptable".

In a sign of their revulsion at remarks by Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, EU leaders signed a statement at their summit yesterday in Hampton Court, condemning the remarks as "manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community".