The administration of Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani has cancelled an anti-Israeli conference as part of his outreach to the West and efforts to map out a new diplomatic path for Iran.

The annual event was set up by Rouhani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and showcased the former president's vitriolic anti-Israeli rhetoric and promoted his anti-Israeli sentiments.

When the conference was first held in 2005, Ahmadinejad made his infamous remark that Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Iranian news websites, including jahannews.com, said on Friday that the Foreign Ministry scrapped the gathering because it was seen as undermining the government's policy of "interaction with the outside world."

But one of the organizers, Nader Talebzadeh, is quoted by several websites as saying the cancellation is a "disaster."