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.

"Those who claim freedom of speech were not even ready to tolerate an opposition voice at a conference which was actually organized by themselves (Western nations)," Ahmadinejad said upon his return to Tehran from Geneva.

A group of Ahmadinejad supporters gathered at the Tehran airport and welcomed the president home with "Death to Israel" slogans.

"Because of me, many countries boycotted the conference. I herewith declare that from now on, I will attend all international conferences," Ahmadinejad said in a short speech carried by the news network Khabar.

Khabar commented that only a "minority" left during the president's speech and the majority remained in the hall, praising Ahmadinejad for not having been irritated by the walk-out and decisively continuing his speech.

The Iranian media also termed the protesters at the conference "as clowns hired by the Zionists (Israel)."(dpa)