TEHRAN -- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has criticized Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaii for expressing friendship with Israeli people.

In a sermon at Friday prayers, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Someone made a statement about people who live in Israel. It was an inaccurate statement.”
However he urged an end to the war of words over the issue.
“To say that we are friends of the Israeli people like all the other people of the world is not a fair comment, it is an illogical comment,” said the Leader.
“Someone said something false and there were reactions. These should end,” the Leader said, calling on officials to stop debates over “such an empty issue”.
“The people of Israel are those who have usurped houses, lands, farms, and businesses” of Palestinians.
“We have no problem with Jews or Christians or the faithful of other religions…But we have a problem with the usurpers of the land of Palestine. This is the Islamic system’s stance.”
Mashaii, the director of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization, earlier said, “Iran is a friend of the Israeli people” in stark contrast to Iran’s stance on the Zionist regime.
His remarks sparked fierce criticism from leading religious and political leaders, notably in his own conservative faction, which called for his dismissal.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Supreme Leader expressed support for the Ahmadinejad administration and criticized “those who make unfair judgments about the government’s performance”.
“Ruining officials and ruining the government is not in Iran’s interest...In some parts of the world people’s reputation is ruined in the name of freedom and democracy. These actions are not Islamic.”
“Economic or other issues should be first discussed in expert meetings not in public gatherings,” he stated.
“My worry is not that something is being said and there is criticism of somebody ... my worry is spreading unfair attitudes in society,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “I am not saying this to a specific person, group or party; I am saying this to everybody.”
“If anybody has plans for the future ... they should say it. If they have solutions to existing problems, such as the problem of high prices and inflation, they should say it. Ruining officials and the government is not in (Iran's) interest.”
“It is not necessary for a confrontation of those supporting a person or group and those opposed to them,” he said.