International officials have condemned statements made by Iran's vice president at a U.N.-sponsored drug conference in Tehran where he blamed Jews for the international drug trade.

Catherine Ashton, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, on Thursday became the latest official to condemn the remarks by Iran's Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi.

"The High Representative is deeply disturbed by racist and anti-Semitic statements made by Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi," Ashton said in a statement.

Iran's semi-official FARS news agency reported that Rahimi on Tuesday said the prevalence of narcotics and drug-addiction throughout the world finds its roots in the erroneous teachings of the Talmud, one of the Jewish Holy books.

"The book teaches them how to destroy non-Jews so as to protect an embryo in the womb of a Jewish mother," Rahimi stated.

The Iranian vice-president said that the Zionists' direct involvement in the prevalence of illicit drugs is such that "you cannot find a single addict among the Zionists".