Tehran  - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday deplored what he called "intolerance by the West" at the United Nations Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva.

The conference opened on Monday and quickly descended into controversy as Ahmadinejad launched an impassioned attack on Israel, prompting a European walk-out in retaliation.

Washington  - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments against Israel at a racism conference Monday were "unacceptable" and only serve to fuel racial hatred, the US State Department said.

"Unfortunately, we've heard all of this before from President Ahmadinejad. The comments that he made, frankly, were unacceptable and, frankly feed racial hatred," spokesman Robert Wood said. "Iran needs to end this type of inflammatory rhetoric. It's not helpful."

Strasbourg - European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering on Monday condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's speech at the UN racism conference as "unacceptable" and coupled it with a warning about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

Poettering said "The European Union and the international community must decisively condemn these statements and work with determination to ensure an Israel in safe borders and a Palestinian State in safe borders can live in peace together."

Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the immediate release of an American journalist sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran on "baseless" espionage charges.

"We believe she should be freed immediately," Clinton said. "The charges against her are baseless."

Roxana Saberi had been held in Iran for months prior to last week's sentence. The Iranian government charges she was operating in the country illegally because she was not a credentialed journalist.

Tehran - Tehran called on the United States Monday not to politicise the case of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, and to respect the Iranian judiciary's decision and independence.

Saberi was sentenced by an Iranian revolutionary court to eight years in prison for spying for the United States.

Both US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed deep concern over the journalist's fate and their disappointment over the verdict. Obama said Sunday that he was confident Saberi was not involved in espionage against Tehran.

Washington/Tehran  - The United States expressed deep concern Saturday over an eight-year prison sentence imposed by the Iranian judiciary on Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi for spying.

"I am deeply disappointed," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government."

Saberi, 31, a reporter for US National Public Radio, was sentenced on charges of spying for the United States after the closed-door trial, her lawyer told reporters in Tehran.