During a video footage broadcast by Press TV, Iran's President-Elect spoke towards journalists on Friday. The remarks made by Hassan Rouhani were misquoted by an Iranian student news agency and picked up by news outlets around the world.

Speaking at an annual Quds Day Rally Rouhani called for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. ISNA quoted Rowani as saying, “The Zionist regime has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world for years and the wound should be removed.”

Western newspapers and news outlets quickly picked up on the remarks and placed the newly elected president at the center of controversy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahucriticized Rouhani’s supposed remarks as well, saying the Iranian leader has shown his “real face” sooner than expected. He also said the remarks were part of Iran’s “Plan of action” against Israel. Netanyahu also pointed out that “A country that threatens to destroy Israel must not be allowed weapons of mass destruction.”

A more accurate interpretation of the Iranian President-Elects’s remarks were published later that were decidedly less harsh than the earlier reports by ISNA. The revised interpretation of the remarks made by Rouhani now stand as, “In our region there’s been a wound for years on the body of the Muslim world under the shadow of the occupation of the holy land of Palestine and the beloved al-Quds [Jerusalem].”

Iranian state media quickly repudiated the earlier interpretation saying that the news media distorted what Rouhani actually said.

Rouhani is due to step into the position of the Iranian presidency on Sunday replacing out-going Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who he beat in June elections.