A former Iranian president warned the West on Friday that its support for Israel would backfire, as hundreds of thousands of people staged rallies in support of Muslim claims to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is still considered influential in Iranian politics, said the U.S., Britain and France back Israel — and this is dangerous.

"They will put themselves in trouble, eventually," Rafsanjani said during a Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran marking "Al-Quds Day." Al-Quds is the Arabic word for Jerusalem.

Israel could "take tougher and more offensive action" than the United States against Iran and the Arab world, warned Rafsanjani.

State-run television also aired clips on Friday featuring hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York. The president, who is in the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly meeting, said Israel does not have support among ordinary people in America.

He also chided hundreds of demonstrators who protested against him during his trip, calling it a "big failure for them."

The latest anti-Israel remarks by Iranian leaders come as hundreds of thousands rallied in cities across the Persian country to protest Israel's continued hold on Jerusalem, the city where Muslims believe Islam's Prophet Muhammad began his journey to heaven.

In the capital, Tehran, demonstrators chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" to commemorate "Al-Quds Day." Some protesters also burned American and Israeli flags.

Tehran's Jewish community also participated in the rally, according to a statement by the Tehran Central Jewish Committee, a copy of which was made available to The Associated Press.

Since the Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran has observed the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as "Al-Quds Day," as a way of expressing support to the Palestinians and emphasizing the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims.

Rallies were also held in the Syrian capital of Damascus to mark Al-Quds. More than 3,000 people gathered at the Yarmouk refugee camp carrying Palestinian flags and anti-Israeli banners. The rally was attended by several officials from Syria-based Palestinian factions, including Ahmed Jibril from the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General-Command.

"This day is a day of popular anger in the Arab and Islamic nations. It is directed toward all those who are colluding against Palestine and Jerusalem," Jibril said, in apparent reference to Arab nations that have relations with Israel.

Another official, Ziad Nakhale of the Islamic Jihad group, said Jerusalem is holy for Muslims and "we call all Muslims around the world to liberate it."

In Lebanon, the militant Hezbollah group held a rally south of Beirut marking Jerusalem Day. The group's leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah urged Palestinians to "resistance" against Israel.

"No one has the right to give up a grain of soil ... in the holy land," said Nasrallah, speaking through a video link on a giant screen. He added that Jerusalem "must return to its rightful owners and it will, God willing."

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Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.



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