June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced Israel for its occupation of the Palestine territories and said the Jewish state was ``doomed.''

``A fabricated, occupying regime which is killing women and children is doomed to go,'' Ahmadinejad said today at a press conference at a United Nations gathering in Rome. ``We want the killing of women and children to come to an end.''

It was the second time in two days the Iranian president has verbally attacked Israel. The Jewish nation will be ``erased from the geographical scene,'' Agence-France Presse reported him saying yesterday in a speech commemorating the 19th anniversary of the death of revolutionary Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Supreme Leader is the most powerful political figure in Iran.

Iran also accused U.S. President George W. Bush of wanting to attack the Persian Gulf country, home to the world's second- largest oil and natural gas reserves.

``President Bush is very much interested in a military attack against Iran,'' said Ahmadinejad, who was attending a food conference. ``Several times he has tried to find an excuse to attack and each time he has failed.''

The U.S., which keeps aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and about 150,000 troops in Iraq, has refused to rule out military action as an option to stop Iran's nuclear program and alleged arms shipments to Shiite insurgents.

Ahmadinejad, a former populist mayor of Tehran, offered to debate U.S. presidential candidates about their policies. Bush rejected the Iranian president's debate offer last year.

``We believe that a debate and logic are better than tension and conflict,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 3, 2008 11:57 EDT